#1 ·
What actually sparked this topic for me?
I was reading a book by one of the most renowned hypnotherapists out there. To be clear, I’m not talking about some charlatan; this guy spent his entire career training medical professionals—psychiatrists and others—and collaborating with them. To make a long story short, both he and another person, independently of one another, discovered something fascinating in their fifties that was later backed up by research.
Essentially, in certain patients treated for postoperative depression or, in some cases, phantom limb pain where no physical cause could be found, regression therapy revealed that the root issue lay in what was being said or happening during surgery while the patient was under anesthesia. To confirm this, they performed regressions on a large number of people who had undergone procedures under general anesthesia, and it consistently showed that memories could be retrieved, allowing patients to describe the surgical procedures with startling precision.
So, it seems that even during seemingly unconscious states, a part of the mind subconsciously records everything happening around it.
A specific example involved patients suffering from phantom pain in the area where they had surgery. Through regression, they found the cause was a surgeon commenting during the procedure, "Look at this, she’ll never be the same again." He meant it in a positive sense, perhaps, but it stuck in her mind as a negative suggestion of being permanently broken. Once the true cause was identified, the pain stopped.
Even though this was documented back in the fifties and confirmed in many subsequent cases, it feels to me like people still don't pay enough attention to how they speak in those critical moments...
Then there's the day-to-day interaction with patients. A doctor is usually an authority figure, especially when dealing with serious illnesses. A sick person is incredibly suggestible in that contact, so it should be vital for doctors to understand how to navigate those situations—how to phrase things to leave the most positive impact possible. Honestly, it doesn't feel like that's always the case.
Here's another situation I ran into recently. It isn't directly related, but the principle is identical. I was just reading Jack on the importance—and potential harm—of diet regarding cancer development, and I've seen similar things elsewhere. Yet, I still hear oncologists tell patients that diet doesn't matter and they should just keep eating exactly as they have been.
These factors—psychological state, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle habits—are crucial for prevention, treatment, and making life manageable during serious illness. And yet, they seem to be systematically ignored. It would be like taking a car to a mechanic who fixes a breakdown caused by neglect, but fails to mention that the oil hasn't been changed in a decade, the wrong fuel is being used, the tires are bald, and the belts are shot.
I was reading a book by one of the most renowned hypnotherapists out there. To be clear, I’m not talking about some charlatan; this guy spent his entire career training medical professionals—psychiatrists and others—and collaborating with them. To make a long story short, both he and another person, independently of one another, discovered something fascinating in their fifties that was later backed up by research.
Essentially, in certain patients treated for postoperative depression or, in some cases, phantom limb pain where no physical cause could be found, regression therapy revealed that the root issue lay in what was being said or happening during surgery while the patient was under anesthesia. To confirm this, they performed regressions on a large number of people who had undergone procedures under general anesthesia, and it consistently showed that memories could be retrieved, allowing patients to describe the surgical procedures with startling precision.
So, it seems that even during seemingly unconscious states, a part of the mind subconsciously records everything happening around it.
A specific example involved patients suffering from phantom pain in the area where they had surgery. Through regression, they found the cause was a surgeon commenting during the procedure, "Look at this, she’ll never be the same again." He meant it in a positive sense, perhaps, but it stuck in her mind as a negative suggestion of being permanently broken. Once the true cause was identified, the pain stopped.
Even though this was documented back in the fifties and confirmed in many subsequent cases, it feels to me like people still don't pay enough attention to how they speak in those critical moments...
Then there's the day-to-day interaction with patients. A doctor is usually an authority figure, especially when dealing with serious illnesses. A sick person is incredibly suggestible in that contact, so it should be vital for doctors to understand how to navigate those situations—how to phrase things to leave the most positive impact possible. Honestly, it doesn't feel like that's always the case.
Here's another situation I ran into recently. It isn't directly related, but the principle is identical. I was just reading Jack on the importance—and potential harm—of diet regarding cancer development, and I've seen similar things elsewhere. Yet, I still hear oncologists tell patients that diet doesn't matter and they should just keep eating exactly as they have been.
These factors—psychological state, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle habits—are crucial for prevention, treatment, and making life manageable during serious illness. And yet, they seem to be systematically ignored. It would be like taking a car to a mechanic who fixes a breakdown caused by neglect, but fails to mention that the oil hasn't been changed in a decade, the wrong fuel is being used, the tires are bald, and the belts are shot.