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Cancer, as we all know, is a disease of the body, but it is also a disease of the mind. Cancer survivor David Elliot discusses how this mental disorder manifests and what can be done to lift the curse of a terminal prognosis.
In the body cancer manifests as a collection of cells that are growing in disregard to the health of the overall body, they take on a life of their own and use up the resources of the body or interfere with the functioning of the body, until the body dies.
In the mind, cancer becomes a fearful identity that takes on a life of its own; it absorbs out attention, saps our enthusiasm and takes over our normal thoughts and attitudes, I call it the cancer victim identity.
So cancer starts off as a physical manifestation: one presents at a hospital and goes through the investigative medical process which culminates in a diagnosis of cancer. At that moment when you are told that you have caner you become infected with a mental belief disease.
Being told you have cancer is a shock to the core; its a mental blow that leaves you reeling in confusion, disbelief and denial that can last for months. You suddenly become a cancer victim. Your plans are no longer possible, a normal life is denied you and your future looks bleak and painful. If you are told that your condition is terminal, the shock is even worse.
When I was told that I had brain cancer (glioma multiforme blastoma stage 4) and that I only had 24 months to live, by someone I trusted, someone who had operated on my brain, then that prediction become a message that got into my mind --- It was hard to ignore. I knew it was backed up by statistical and clinical evidence. I knew that the doctor knew more about cancer than I. I knew that he was doing his best to help me, so it was very difficult to discount the prediction that I would die from the disease.
In fact I would appear to be acting stupidly irrational and unreasonable to claim that I could experience a different outcome to that predicted by statistics.
When I told the surgeon that it was my intention to survive the cancer 100% he informed me that he didnt want to give me false hope at this point I realised that my hope was my responsibility and that It was up to me to find a way to change my expectation of a short life.
I assume you have all heard of the placebo effect? The Placebo effect is where a patient experiences a positive therapeutic outcome from taking a medication or procedure that they expect will cure them, even though it may have no active ingredient or not be a real treatment at all, for example fake knee surgery. The placebo effect is evidence that a persons positive expectations, or beliefs, can influence their experience of, or recovery from, a physical disease.
Related to the placebo effect is the nocebo effect; this is where a patient has, or receives, a negative expectation which leads to the experience of a negative outcome.
Being told that you have caner or being given a terminal diagnosis is a nocebo.
My belief is that a diagnosis of cancer or a terminal diagnosis is like being infected with a mental disorder which is as potentially fatal as the physical disorder one already has. Its the modern day equivalent of the witchdoctors curse or the pointing of the bone. It becomes a nocebo and a self fulfilling prophesy but only if you believe it!
I have met and heard of people who totally believe in their terminal prognosis and have no doubt that their illness will kill them within a defined time limit. I know of one lady who was given two years and she went home and wrote the date on her calendar, she died within a week of the predicted date.
When it comes to the future, really, no one knows what is going to happen: I might die of cancer within my use-by date, or, anything else could happen: medical science could come up with a miracle cure, I might find an alternative therapy that is successful at treating glioma. I might be one of those people who inexplicably survive for no known reason. I might get run over by a bus tomorrow or I might create self-healing through managing my beliefs. Any one of these is possible and I am free to choose to believe in whichever I want.
Medical science does have treatments for the physical aspects of cancer; some are effective against some cancers and some are not. Alternative or complementary medical modalities also have treatments that are effective and some that are not. Some people survive and some dont.
I believe that just treating the body and ignoring the mind is not the best overall approach. If one has a healthy mind and a positive expectation of a cure, (even if medical science doesnt currently have a cure) then ones experience and possible outcome has to be better than if one goes through treatment with the expectation of failure and immanent death!
Managing the mind and lifting the fear of cancer and the curse of a terminal diagnosis is an essential step to a positive healing outcome. But just how do you keep a healthy and positive outlook in such dire circumstances?
Resistance and denial dont work for long you can try to pretend that you dont have cancer or that you havent been given a terminal diagnosis but the pretence is hard to keep up in the face of worsening symptoms.
Many people try affirmations but have disappointing or mixed results, they affirm that they are confident but they feel frightened, they try to paste a veneer of positivity over a well or anxiety. Below I outline a number of steps that are essential to creating a healthy mind in the face of cancer.
First you need to be aware of what is going on in your consciousness and recognise when you are acting through a cancer victim identity.
Second, you need to be able to fully appreciate this identity; you see how it is serving you.
Third, you realise that you have the power to decide whether or not you pay it any attention; its in your mind and you can decide to stop identifying with it, i.e you can decide to stop feeding it with your attention.
And finally you put your attention on a positive attitude or outlook that will make you feel better and will also encourage your body to heal itself.
I was fortunate that I was already a trained Avatar Master when I was diagnosed (Avatar is a system of tools for exploring and altering consciousness). I already knew how to change my beliefs effectively it hasnt been easy but I have managed to lift the curse of a terminal diagnosis. I might still die by my use-by-date but its not something thats preying on my mind, I dont think of myself as a cancer victim or that my disease is necessarily terminal. I feel that in healing the mental disease, I am encouraging my body to more effectively create healing itself
You might think that I am in denial but that is not the case. I fully acknowledge that I had a serious and life threatening disease, I have felt the fear and the grief and the hopelessness and have progressed through them.
I have seen three of my fellow glioma patients die and I have seen the suffering that cancer brings. But I know that in this moment I am alive and well and that the future is as unpredictable for me as it is for someone without a terminal prognosis.
Currently, we devote millions of dollars and countless research hours on healing the physical manifestations of cancer, directing some of this attention and effort towards understanding the role of the mind in creating both illness and health could reveal many benefits for cancer patients, especially those with incurable conditions.
David Elliot
Author of You Dont Have to Die When Your Doctor Says
www.youdonthavetodiewhenyourdoctorsays.com
