THE POWER OF THE IMAGINATION
Dr. F. W. Southworth says: “Fear is itself a contagious disease and is sometimes reflected from one mind to another with great rapidity. It passes from one to another, from the healthy to the ill, from doctor or nurse to patient, from mother to child, and so on. The greatest fears we can usually get away from, but it is the little fears and anxieties, constant apprehension, fears of imagined evils of all sorts which prey upon our vitality and lessen our powers, thus rendering us more susceptible to disease. To avert disease, then, we must eradicate fear; but how shall we accomplish it? Through wise education—educating the people to a higher standard of living; by teaching a sounder hygiene; a wiser philosophy and a more cheerful theology. By erasing a thousand errors and superstitions from fearful minds and pointing them to the light,beauty and loveliness of the truth. This mental and moral sanitation is still ahead of us, but it is more valuable and desirable than all quarantines, inventions, experiments, and microscopical researches after physical or material causes.”
Sir George Paget, M. D., says: “In many cases I have seen reasons for believing that cancer has had its origin in prolonged anxiety.” Dr. Murchison says: “I have been surprised to find how often patients with primary cancer of the liver have traced the cause of this illness to protracted grief and anxiety. These cases have been far too numerous to be accounted for as merely coincidents.” Sir B. W. Richardson, M. D., says: “Eruptions of the skin frequently follow excessive mental strain. In all these, as well as in cancer, epilepsy and mania, the cause is frequently partly or wholly mental. It is remarkable how little the question of the origin of physical disease from mental influences has been studied.” Prof. Elmer Gates says: “My experiments show that irascible, malevolent and depressing emotions generate in the system injurious compounds, some of which are extremely poisonous. Also that agreeable, happy emotions generate chemical compounds of nutritious value which stimulate the cells to manufacture energy.”
Dr. Patton, in the address before the Wabasha County Medical Society, above mentioned, gives the following interesting case of the effect of faith and expectant attention, or Suggestion: He said: “While surgeon of a Cincinnati hospital one of the messenger boys was often disobedient of orders. The sister superior once asked me how to punish him. I suggested putting him to bed and making him sick with medicine. My advice was acted upon with alacrity. A tea-spoonful ofcolored waterwas given him every fifteen minutes. With assumed gravity, I ordered the nurse, in the boy’s presence, to keep giving the medicine until he became sick and vomited. Within an hour he vomited profusely.... A funny incident illustrative of the faith and confidence sometimes reposed in the medical man and his power in curing disease, happened in my first year of practice. An Irish laborer,much given to profanity, came to my office, with a cold on his chest. I prescribed a soothing mixture and a liniment of camphor, ammonia and soap. A few days later, meeting him on the street, I asked him if the medicine had cured him all right. He replied with enthusiasm, ‘Oh! yes, yes, it acted most beautifully and cured me pretty d—— d quick, but it was awful hot stuff, for it burned in my throat like hell-fire itself.’ I knew at once, but did not tell him, that he had been swallowing the liniment of camphor, hartshorn and soap, and rubbing the cough mixture on the outside. His faith was even stronger than the liniment, and cured him in spite of the blunder.
“Perhaps the most wonderful confirmation came under my observation while wintering in San Antonio, Texas, in 1880. Some nostrum fakirs with a retinue of fourteen musicians and comedians came to this city in an immense chariot, drawn by eight gaily caparisoned horses. Every evening they came upon the military plaza to sell their panacea. I went over one evening out of curiosity, being attracted by the songs andmusic. The head fakir was shouting to an immense crowd about the virtues of his specific. He claimed that it contained thirteen ingredients, gathered at a great expense from all quarters of the globe, and would cure all the ills that flesh was heir to. Cures were warranted in every case, or the money refunded on the following evening. After this harangue, he said that the medicine was for sale at $1 per bottle, until 300 bottles had been sold, as it was an invariable rule to sell only that number on any one evening. Immediately a frenzied mob rushed pell-mell to the end of the chariot, each one holding aloft a silver dollar. He had previously announced that no change would be made, and that every one to get the medicine should have a dollar ready in his hand. In half an hour 300 bottles had been sold, the empty trunk closed with a bang, and the statement made that no more could be had until the following evening, although there was yet a great multitude clamoring for more. Curiosity again led me to the plaza the next evening, and I went early. The initial performance was a free tooth-pulling, to lastthirty minutes. He said he was the kingpin of the tooth-pullers, and I believe he was. The rapidity of his work was a marvel. He snatched from various jaws about 250 teeth, including the good ones, within the limit, throwing them from his forceps right and left among his audience. Those operated upon were wrought to such a frenzy of excitement and wonder that each one, without an exception, declared that no pain whatever had been experienced. A call was then made for the 300 who had bought medicine on the previous evening to mount the chariot and tell what the medicine had done for them.
“From every quarter men and women, both white and colored, pressed forward to give their experience. Their stories were grotesque and curious enough, but no matter what their ailments, cures had resulted in every case. At the end of half an hour, while the experience meeting was at its acme, the fakir abruptly closed it, saying, in a regretful voice, that the rest would have to wait until the next evening to tell of theircures, as he now wanted those to come forward who had not been cured by the medicine bought on the previous evening. He stood in silence with folded arms for three minutes. No one having come forward, the voice of this arrant charlatan rang out in stentorian tones, ‘All,allhave been cured! We have curedeveryone!’ Then another 300 bottles were sold in a jiffy, I myself being one of the fortunate purchasers. The chief of this outfit stopped in the hotel where I was. After dinner the next day, I made his acquaintance in the smoking room, saying I was a doctor, too; that I had attended two of his soirees, bought his medicine and was greatly interested in it. I surprised him by the statement that his medicine was made by M. & Co., wholesale druggists of Cincinnati, and that it was fluid extract of podophyllin. He stared for some moments, but made no reply. I continued, ‘I know M.’s fluid extract, as his process of its manufacture is peculiar, and differs from other manufacturers in this, that he exhausts the root by percolation with alcohol, ether and glycerine, giving the product a sweetish tasteand a slight ethereal odor.’ The man asked if I was also a chemist. I replied, ‘Yes, I once lectured in a medical college in Cincinnati on drugs and their uses, and I can readily tell fluid extracts by their taste, odor and physical characteristics.’
“After some hesitation, he said, ‘Yes, this is M.’s podophyllinand nothing else.’ I inquired if he attributed all his success to the medicine. He answered, ‘No, for once in Missouri the mandrake ran out before a new lot arrived. We found something like it in a drug store of the town, and the people got well just the same.If the people believe you can cure them, and have faith in your medicine, they get well anyway, or they think they do, which is the same thing.’ The fakirs remained one week, sold 2,100 bottles, and presumably cured 2,100 people, as no one came forward to reclaim his dollar for the medicine, which was contained in a two-drachm vial of 120 drops. A dose was one drop after each meal in one spoonful of water.
“When I was in California recently a friend mentioned that an intelligent relativeof his was being treated by a celebrated Chinese doctor. The relative claimed that Chinese physicians were better than our own; that they had devoted 5,000 years to medicine and had thus become so learned and skillful that they could tell all diseases without asking a single question, simply by feeling the pulse. Out of curiosity I visited this physician, ostensibly as a patient. Without so declaring myself, he knew intuitively that I came to consult him. Without asking any questions he placed his finger upon my right wrist, communed with himself for a few moments, and then gravely informed me that I hadthirty-seven diseases; some in the blood, some in the brain, some in the kidneys, some in the liver, and many others in the heart and lungs. He said it would takesixteen different herbsto cure me. He volunteered the statement that he could detect 6,000 diseases by the pulse alone, and that he used 400 herbs in the treatment of the various diseases. Upon his request, I examined his portfolio containing 350 testimonials of marvellous cures, wrought upon American residents of California during hisseventeen years’ practice on the coast. Many of them were from parties of intelligence and eminence, and were so extraordinary that nothing short of their being attested by numerous witnesses of unimpeachable veracity, could satisfy one of their truth. Now, permit me to say that I have no pulse in the right wrist, the pulse being congenitally absent; but through it he made the pretense of locating so many diseases. This doubtless is the form and character of medical practice in China among the native Chinamen, and probably has been for many centuries among a population of 400,000,000. Is not the logic from the above facts irresistible, that in China the native physician cannot tell one disease from another, and that all his work is simply nonsense and guess work? There can be no escape from this conclusion—it follows as lucidly as a demonstrated problem in Euclid—thatany benefit that may ever accrue from their treatment is wholly due to the dynamic force of the brain upon the functions of the body.”
The following, from a Philadelphia journal, gives a striking illustration of the factthat the imagination is arealfactor in many cases of physical ailment: “The fact that the throes of the imagination under great nervous excitement often produce a corresponding physical frenzy was illustrated recently in the case of a man who had gone to sleep with his artificial teeth in his mouth. Waking suddenly with a choking sensation, he found his teeth had disappeared. He looked in the glass of water where they were usually deposited, did not see them and realized they must be far down his throat. Choking and struggling, he hammered on the door of a friend sleeping in the house, who, seeing his critical condition, vainly tried to draw the teeth out of the sufferer’s throat. He could feel the teeth, but had not the strength to extract them. He ran for a blacksmith who lived a few doors away, but the blacksmith’s hand was too big to put into the man’s mouth. A doctor had been sent for, but he was so long in coming that the victim of the accident seemed likely to die of suffocation before the physician arrived. A little girl of ten years was brought under the impression that her small hand mightreach the obstacle and withdraw it, but she got frightened and began to cry. The sufferer became black in the face, his throat swelled out, and his friends expected every moment to be his last, when finally the doctor arrived. He heard the history of the case, saw that the teeth were not in the man’s jaws nor in their nightly receptacle, felt the throat and cast his eyes seriously upon the floor.There, on the floor, he saw the whole set of teeth.He adjusted them to the jaws of the patient, told him to breathe freely, and every symptom of suffocation disappeared.”
The following from an Eastern journal illustrates another phase of the subject: “Saltpetriere, the hospital for nervous diseases, made famous by the investigations of Dr. Charcot, has an interesting case of religious mania. The patient, who is a woman of about forty years of age, entertains the belief that she is crucified, and this delusion has caused a contraction of the muscles of the feet of such a nature that she can walk only on tip-toe. The patient, moreover, issubject occasionally to the still more extraordinary manifestation—that of ‘stigmata.’ Instances of ‘stigmata’ are tolerably frequent in the ‘Lives of the Saints’ of alleged supernatural marks on the body in imitation of the wounds of Christ. These ‘stigmata’ have been observed beyond all question on the woman at the Saltpetriere. Their appearance on the body coincides with the return of the most solemn religious anniversaries. These ‘stigmata’ are so visible that it has been possible to photograph them. The doctors of the Saltpetriere in order to assure themselves that these manifestations were not the result of trickery, contrived a sort of shade having a glass front and metal sides, and capable of being hermetically attached to the body by means of India rubber fixings. These shades were placed in position a considerable time before the dates at which the stigmata are wont to appear. When they were affixed there were no marks whatever on the patient’s body, but at the expected period the ‘stigmata’ were visible as usual through the glass.”
In a Southern journal there is reported aninteresting case, in which a New Orleans physician tells the following story: “A nervous man recently called on me and asked, ‘In what part of the abdomen are the premonitory pains of appendicitis felt?’ On theleftside, exactly here,’ I replied, indicating a spot a little above the point of the hip-bone. He went out, and next afternoon I was summoned in hot haste to the St. Charles hotel. I found the planter writhing on his bed, his forehead beaded with sweat, and his whole appearance indicating intense suffering. ‘I have an attack of appendicitis,’ he groaned, ‘and I’m a dead man! I’ll never survive an operation!’ ‘Where do you feel the pain?’ I asked. ‘Oh, right here,’ he replied, putting his finger on the spot I had located at the office. ‘I feel as if somebody had a knife in me turning it around.’ ‘Well, then, it isn’t appendicitis, at any rate,’ I said cheerfully, ‘becauseit is the wrong side.’ ‘The wrong side!’ he exclaimed, glaring at me indignantly. ‘Why, you told me yourself it was on theleftside!’ ‘Then I must have been abstracted,’ I replied calmly; ‘Ishould have said therightside.’ I prescribed something that wouldn’t hurt him, and learned afterward that he ate his dinner in the dining-room the same evening. Oh! yes; he was no doubt in real pain when I called,but you can make your finger ache merely by concentrating your attention on it for a few moments.”
Frank F. Moore, in “A Journalist’s Note Book” tells the following amusing and significant story of the influence of imagination upon health. “A young civil servant in India, feeling fagged from the excessive heat and from long hours of work consulted the best doctor within reach. The doctor looked him over, sounded his heart and lungs, and then said gravely: ‘I will write you tomorrow.’ The next day the young man received a letter telling him that his left lung was gone and his heart seriously affected, and advising him to lose no time in adjusting his business affairs. ‘Of course, you may live for weeks,’ the latter said, ‘but you had best not leave important matters undecided.’ Naturally the young official was dismayed by so dark a prognosis—nothing less than adeath warrant. Within twenty-four hours he was having difficulty with his respiration, and was seized with an acute pain in the region of the heart. He took to his bed with the feeling that he should never rise from it. During the night he became so much worse that his servant sent for the doctor. ‘What on earth have you been doing to yourself?’ demanded the doctor. ‘There were no indications of this sort when I saw you yesterday?’ ‘It is my heart, I suppose,’ weakly answered the patient. ‘Your heart!’ repeated the doctor. ‘Your heart was all right yesterday.’ ‘My lungs, then.’ ‘What is the matter with you, man? You don’t seem to have been drinking?’ ‘Your letter,’ gasped the patient. ‘You said I had only a few weeks to live.’ ‘Are you crazy?’ said the doctor. ‘I wrote you to take a few weeks vacation in the hills, and you would be all right.’ For reply the patient drew the letter from under the bedclothes and gave it to the doctor. ‘Heavens!’ cried that gentleman as he glanced at it. ‘This was meant for another man! My assistant has mixed up the letters.’ The young man at once sat up inbed and made a rapid recovery. And what of the patient for whom the direful prognosis was intended? Delighted with the report that a sojourn in the hills would set him right, he started at once, and five years later was alive and in fair health.”
The following is clipped from a medical journal: “Some physician makes use of this suggestive phrase—‘the dynamic power of an idea,’ and, as an illustration of what is meant by this expression, the following incident is related. Not long ago a man in taking medicine was suddenly possessed by the notion that he had by mistake taken arsenic. His wife insisted to the contrary, but he proceeded to manifest all the peculiar symptoms of arsenical poisoning, and finally died. So certain was his wife that he had not taken arsenic that an autopsy was held, when not an atom of the poison could be found. Of what did this man die? Arsenic? No, of the dynamic power of an idea or arsenic. Happily for humanity this dynamic power of ideas works constructively no less certainly than it does destructively, and an idea of health fixed in the consciousness and persistently adhered to would tend to bring the best results. Over a hundred years ago, old John Hunter said, ‘As the state of mind is capable of producing disease, another state of it may effect a cure.’”
Dr. William C. Prime relates the following case in his book “Among the Northern Hills.” “The judge was summoned in a hurry to see an old lady who had managed her farm for forty years since her husband’s death. She had two sons, and a stepson, John, who was not an admirable person. After a long drive on a stormy night the judge found the old lady apparently just alive, and was told by the doctor in attendance to hurry, as his patient was very weak. The judge brought paper and ink with him. He found a stand and a candle, placed them at the head of the bed, and after saying a few words to the woman, told her he was ready to prepare the will if she would go on and tell him what she wanted him to do. He wrote the introductory phrase rapidly, and leaning over toward her said, ‘Now, go on, Mrs. Norton.’
“Her voice was quite faint, and sheseemed to speak with an effort. She said: ‘First of all, I want to give the farm to my sons, Harry and James. Just put that down.’ ‘But,’ said the judge, ‘you can’t do that, Mrs. Norton. The farm isn’t yours to give away.’ ‘The farm isn’t mine?’ she said in a voice decidedly stronger than before. ‘No, the farm isn’t yours. You have only a life interest in it.’ ‘This farm that I’ve run for goin’ on forty-three year next spring isn’t mine to do with what I please with it? Why not, Judge I’d like to know what you mean!’ ‘Why, Mr. Norton, your husband, gave you a life estate in all his property, and on your death the farm goes to his son, John, andyourchildren get the village houses. I have explained that to you very often before.’ ‘And when I die, John Norton is to have this house and farm whether I will or not?’ ‘Just so. It will be his.’ ‘Then I ain’t goin’ to die!’ said the old woman, in a clear and decidedly ringing and healthy voice. And so saying, she threw her feet over the front of the bed, sat up, gathered a blanket and coverlet about her, straightened her gaunt form,walked across the room and sat down in a great chair before the fire.
“The doctor and the judge went home. That was fifteen years ago.The old lady is alive to-day.And she accomplished her intent, She beat John after all. He died four years ago.”
BELIEF AND SUGGESTION
The writer has been informed by a prominent physician of Chicago, that for many years he has been in the habit of administering hypodermic injections of distilled water, accompanying the same by the statement that he is injecting morphine. He states that in every case, he has succeeded in inducing a quiet, peaceful sleep, and a cessation of pain after the injection, which can be attributed only to thebeliefof the patient. The same physician also relates the case of a woman who believed that she had taken strychnine by mistake. When the doctor was called he found the woman manifesting every symptom of strychnine poisoning, even down to the most minute details, and he is of the opinion that death would have ensued in a short time had he not proceeded to administer the regular antidotes and restorative treatment. After the woman wasbrought out of the condition, it was discovered that the supposed strychnine was nothing but a harmless powder. In relating the case, the physician always adds that the woman had witnessed the death struggles of a dog which had been poisoned by strychnine several months previous, which might have had some effect in enabling her to unconsciously counterfeit the symptoms.
Dr. Max Eastman, in a recent magazine article says: “The mission of this paper is to offer guidance in a matter about which a great quantity of the general public is very much at sea. In this question of ‘mind over matter,’ the reformers have done their work. They have stirred things up. They have bestowed upon the world about a hundred and fifty little religions and a confused idea that there must be some truth in the matter somewhere. The ignorant have done their work. They have persecuted the believers, jeered at them, or damned them with a vacuous smile. The world will never lack ballast. It is only the scientists that have failed of their duty. They have stalked through a routine of elevated lectures, written a few incomprehensible books, and kept the science of psychology, so far as the hungry world goes, sealed up in their own proud bosoms. In all this uproar of faith-cures, and miracles, and shouting prophets, we have heard few illuminating words from the universities. The consequence is that we are without a helm, and the reform blows now one way and now another....
“The law of suggestion, which is one of the great discoveries of modern science, was first formulated by Dr. Liebault at Paris, in a book published in 1866. Since his day the number of physicians who practice ‘suggestive therapeutics’ has steadily increased, until to-day no thorough clinical hospital is without a professional suggestionist. The practicedoes not involve any metaphysical theories, the passage of any hidden force from one brain to another, any ‘planes of existence,’ or any religious upset, or any poetic physiology, or the swallowing of any occult doctrines whatever. It is one of the simplest and coolest of scientific theories. It is a question of the relation between the brain and the bodily organs. It seems neverto have been clearly stated that healing disease by suggestion depends not in the least degree upon any theory of the relation of mind and matter.... The attempt to fix an idea in the mind without reason is suggestion. It is accomplished usually in medical practice by asking the patient to lie down and relax his body and his mind and then vigorously stating to him the desired idea. It may be accomplished in a number of ways. The patient may be told that the operator is a wizard and is about to transfer an idea from his own mind to that of the patient. If the patient believes him he will very likely accept the idea. It may be accomplished by gestures or incantations which the patient regards with superstitious awe, provided it is explained beforehand what these gestures are meant to produce. It may be accomplished by telling the patient he has no body, and sitting with him for awhile in spiritual silence,provided he knows what to expect.
“All these methods,if one believes in them, are good, and they prove by their success the law of suggestion. But the methodthat is based on a sure truth is the method of the scientist. He reasons with his patient, he stirs in him what moral or religious enthusiasm he can, and to these means he adds tactfully the subtle suggestive powers of his own presence and eloquence. This force, together with the power which is revealed in a man of correcting his own mental habits, is the greatest practical discovery of modern psychology.... Suggestive therapeutics is the use of suggestion to fix in the mind ideas of healthy mental habits....
“Our question is: can the physical conditions of the brain affect the physical condition of the stomach? We know that the brain-building condition which accompanies the idea of raising our hand can affect the condition of the muscles of our arm—and we call that a voluntary function. Now the question is whether the brain condition which accompanies the idea of enlivening our stomach can have an effect upon that involuntary function. Experiments with suggestion have proved that in some cases it can, if it continues long enough. Persons of a very suggestible nature, can, for instance,by concentrating their mind upon a certain part of the body, increase the flow of blood to that part, although the regulation of blood flow is supposed to be entirely involuntary. The action of the heart, also the movements of the digestive organs particularly, and of the organs of elimination, are almost directly affected in suggestible persons by that change in their brains which accompanies certain ideas.... Science has established then, that suggestion can effect to some extent, the so-called involuntary functions of the body; but the extent or limitation of these effects is by no means determined. It could not be determined scientifically without years of diligent experiment and tabulation. Any dogmatic statement upon one side or the other of that question, is therefore premature and against the spirit of science.”
Dr. Leith, in his Edinburgh lectures in 1896, said: “I am inclined to doubt whether the benefits of Nauheim (a treatment for the heart) is not after all to be explained largely, if not entirely, by the influence of the mental factor.” Tuke says that: “JohnHunter says he was subject to spasm of his ‘vital parts’ when anxious about an event; as, for instance, whether his bees would swarm or not, whether the large cat he was anxious to kill would get away before he could get the gun. After death it was found that he had some heart disease.... Lord Eglinton told John Hunter how, when two soldiers were condemned to be shot, it was arranged the one who threw the number with the dice should be reprieved; the one who proved successful generally fainted, while the one to be shot remained calm.” Dr. Schofield says: “During the rush of Consumptives to Berlin for inoculation by Dr. Koch’s tuberculin, a special set of symptoms were observed to follow the injection and were taken as being diagnostic of the existence of tuberculosis; among others, a rise of temperature after so many hours. These phenomena were eagerly looked for by the patients, and occurred accurately in several who were injected with pure water. The formation of blisters full of serum from the application of plain stamp and otherpaper to various parts of the bodies of patients in the hypnotic state, is well attested and undoubtedly true.”
Dr. Krafft-Ebing has produced a rise from 37 degrees centigrade to 38.5 degrees centigrade in patients by fixing their minds by suggestion. In the same way Binet lowered the temperature 10 degrees centigrade. The latter authority says: “How can it be, when one merely says to the patient: ‘Your hand will become cold,’ and the vaso-motor system answers by constricting the artery?C’est ce que depasse notre imagination.” Schofield commenting on the above, says: “Indeed there is no way of accounting for such a phenomena but by freely admitting the presence of unconscious psychic forces in the body, capable of so influencing the structures of the body as to produce physical changes.” Tuke says: “A lady saw a child in immediate danger of having its ankle crushed by an iron gate. She was greatly agitated, but could not move, owing to intense pain coming on in her corresponding ankle. She walked home with difficulty, took off her stocking and found a circlearound the ankle of a light red color, with a large red spot on the outer side. By the morning her whole foot was inflamed, and she had to remain in bed for some days. A young woman witnessing the lancing of an abscess in the axilla immediately felt pain in that region, followed by inflammation. Dr. Marmise of Bordeaux tells us of a lady’s maid, who when the surgeon put his lancet into her mistress’s arm to bleed her, felt the prick in her own arm, and shortly after there appeared a bruise at the spot.”
It is related that St. Francis d’Assisi dwelt so long in concentrated meditation upon the thought and picture of the Crucifixion that he suffered intense pain in his hands and feet, at the points corresponding to the place of the nails in the hands and feet of Christ, which was afterward followed by marked inflammation at those points, terminating in actual ulceration. The phenomena of thestigmatain the cases of religious enthusiasts and fanatics has been mentioned elsewhere in this book. Prof. Barrett says of the phenomenon: “It is not so well known, but it is nevertheless the fact, that utterlystartling physiological changes can be produced in a hypnotized subject merely by conscious or unconscious mental suggestion. Thus a red scar or a painful burn, or even a figure of a definite shape, such as a cross or an initial, can be caused to appear on the body of the entranced subject solely through suggesting the idea. By creating some local disturbance of the blood-vessel in the skin, the unconscious self has done what would be impossible for the conscious to perform. And so in the well-attested cases ofstigmata, where a close resemblance to the wounds of the body of the crucified Saviour appears on the body of the ecstatic. This is a case of unconscious self-suggestion, arising from the intent and adoring gaze of the ecstatic upon the bleeding figure on the crucifix.”
Dr. Schofield says: “The breath is altered by the emotions. The short quiet breath of joy contrasts with the long sigh of relief after breathless suspense. Joy gives eupnœa or easy breathing, grief or rather fear tends to dyspnœa or difficult breathing. Sobbing goes with grief, laughter with joy,and one often merges into the other. Yawning is produced by pure idea or by seeing it, as well as by fatigue. Dr. Morton Prince says a lady he knew always had violent catarrh in the nose (hay fever) if a rose was in the room. He gave her anartificialone and the usual symptoms followed. How many cases of hay-fever have a somewhat similar origin in the unconscious mind?... The hair may be turned grey and white by emotion in a few hours or sooner. With regard to the stomach and digestion, apart from actual disease, we may notice one or two instances of unconscious mind action. A man who was very sea-sick lost a valuable set of artificial teeth overboard, and was instantly cured. If the thoughts are strongly directed to the intestinal canal, as by bread-pills, it will produce strong peristaltic action. Vomiting occurs from mental causes, apart from organic brain disease. Bad news will produce nausea; emotion also, or seeing another person vomit, or certain smells or ideas, or thoughts about a sea-voyage, etc., or the thought that an emetic has been taken.... The thought of an acid fruit will fillthe mouth with water. A successful way of stopping discordant street music is to suck a lemon within a full view of a German band. Fear will so dry the throat that dry rice cannot be swallowed. This is a test in India for the detection of a murderer. The suspected man is brought forward and given a handful of dry rice to swallow. If he can do this he is innocent; if he cannot he is guilty, fear having dried up his mouth.... A young lady who could not be cured of vomiting was engaged to be married. On being told that the wedding day must be postponed till cured, the vomiting ceased.... A mother nursing her child always found the milk secreted when she heard the child crying for any length of time. Fear stops the secretion of milk, and worry will entirely change its character, so as to become absolutely injurious to the child.”
Maudsley says: “Perhaps we do not as physicians consider sufficiently the influence of mental states in the production of disease, their importance as symptoms; or realize all the advantages which we take of them in our efforts to cure disease. Quackeryseems to have got hold of a truth which legitimate medicine fails to appreciate or use adequately.” Dr. Buckley says: “A doctor was called to see a lady with severe rheumatism, and tried to extemporize a vapor bath in bed, with an old tin pipe and a tea-kettle; and only succeeded in scalding the patient with the boiling water proceeding from the overful kettle through the pipe. The patient screamed: ‘Doctor, you have scalded me,’ and leaped out of bed. But the rheumatism was cured, and did not return.” Tuke relates an amusing instance of the effect of suggestion and faith upon warts. He had been considering the subject of the various “pow-wows” or “wart-cures” of the old women, and determined to try some experiments in order to see whether these cures were not due simply to mental influences and expectant attention. On an official tour he visited an asylum, where he was regarded as a great personage by reason of his office. He noticed that several of the inmates were afflicted with warts, and muttering a few words over the excresences, he told the owners that by such and such aday the warts would have completely disappeared. He forgot the circumstances, owing to the press of his official duties, and was agreeably surprised when, on his next round of visits, he was told that his patients had been cured at the time he had predicted. Nearly everyone has had some personal acquaintance with some of these “pow-wow” wart cures, in one form or another. Tying a knot in a piece of cord, then rubbing the wart with it, and burying the string, has cured thousands of cases of warts—the suggestion being the real cause behind the mask.
Ferassi cured fifty cases of ague by a charm, which consisted merely of a piece of paper with the word “Febrifuge” written on it. The patient was directed to clip off one letter of the word each day until cured. Some patients recovered as soon as the first “F” was clipped from the paper. The writer hereof knows personally of a number of people having been cured of fever and ague by means of a written “charm” which an old man in Philadelphia sold them at a dollar a copy. The old man informed him that he, “and his father before him” had cured thousands of people in this way, making a comfortable living from the practice. Dr. Gerbe, of Paris, cured 401 out of 629 cases of toothache by masked suggestion administered in the form of causing the patients to crush a small insect between their fingers, after having strongly impressed upon them the fact that this was an infallible cure.
Dr. Schofield reports the following interesting cases of cures by auto-suggestion and faith: “A surgeon took into a hospital ward some time ago, a little boy who had kept his bed for five years, having hurt his spine in a fall. He had been all the time totally paralyzed in the legs, and could not feel when they were touched or pinched; nor could he move them in the least degree. After careful examination, the doctor explained minutely to the boy the awful nature of the electric battery, and told him to prepare for its application the next day. At the same time he showed him a sixpence, and sympathizing with his state, told him that the sixpence should be his if, notwithstanding, he should have improved enough the next day to walkleaning on and pushing a chair, which would also save the need of the battery. In two weeks the boy was running races in the park, and his cure was reported in the ‘Lancet.’ ... A young lady who had taken ether three and a half years before, on the inhaler being held three inches away from the face, and retaining a faint odor of ether, went right off, and becoming unconscious without any ether being used or the inhaler touching her face. A woman was brought on a couch into a London hospital by two ladies, who said she had been suffering from incurable paralysis of the spine for two years, and having exhausted all their means in nursing her, they now sought to get her admitted, pending her removal to a home for incurables. In two hours I had cured her by agencies which owed all their virtue to their influence on the mind, and I walked with the woman half a mile up and down the waiting-room, and she then returned home in an omnibus, being completely cured. An amusing case is that of a paralyzed girl, who on learning that she had secured the affections of the curate, who used to visit her,got out of bed and walked—cured; and soon afterwards made an excellent pastor’s wife. A remarkable instance of this sort of cure is that of a child afflicted with paralysis, who was brought up from the country to Paris to the Hotel Dieu. The child, who had heard a great deal of the wonderful metropolis, its magnificent hospitals, its omnipotent doctors, and their wonderful cures, was awe-struck, and so vividly impressed with the idea that such surroundings must have a curative influence, that the day after her arrival she sat up in bed much better. The good doctor just passed around, but had not time to treat her till the third day; by which time when he came round she was out of bed, walking about the room, quite restored by the glimpses she had got of his majestic presence.”
Having now shown by numerous disinterested authorities, the majority of whom belong to the medical profession, that the mental states of belief, faith and expectancy, and their negative aspects of fear, apprehension, and false-belief, may, and do, influence physical conditions, functioning andactivities, irrespective of the particular theory, creed, or explanation accepted by the patient himself, or herself, we see the necessity of seeking for the common principle of cure manifesting in the various forms of phenomena. And before this common principle may be grasped, we must needs acquaint ourselves with the physical organism involved in the process of cure. Accordingly the several succeeding chapters will be devoted to that phase of the general subject.
PSYCHO-THERAPEUTIC METHODS
The reader will have seen from the preceding chapters that we have proceeded upon the theory that Suggestion is the universal operative principle manifesting in all forms of mental healing, under whatever guise the latter may be presented and by whatever method it may be applied. But it must be remembered that by “Suggestion” we do not mean the theories of any particular group of psycho-therapists, but rather the broad general principle indicated by that term which operates in the direction of influencing the Subconscious Mind and its activities. Let us consider the principle of Suggestion that we may understand what it is, and what it is not.
The term “Suggestion” has as its root the Latin wordsuggero, which is translated as follows:sug(orsub), “under;” andgero, “to carry;” that is, “to carry or placeunder.” In its general usage it signifies “The introduction indirectly into the mind or thoughts; or that which is so introduced.” Ordinarily a “suggestion” is an idea indirectly insinuated into the mind, and generally without the process of argument or reasoning. In the New Psychology, the term “suggestion” is used in the sense of an idea which is “carried under” the objective or conscious mind, and introduced to the subjective or Subconscious Mind. In Suggestive Therapeutics, a “suggestion” is an idea introduced into that part of the Subconscious Mind which governs and controls the physical functions and activities, and which is embodied in the cells and cell-groups of the body as we have stated in the preceding chapters.
By many mental healers the term “Suggestion” is applied only to the particular method of applying Suggestion employed by physicians and others who practice under the general theories of Suggestive Therapeutics, and the first mentioned class deny that they use Suggestion because, as they say, they do not use the methods of the practitioners ofSuggestive Therapeutics, and make their cures by “metaphysical” or “spiritual” means, or according to some creed or metaphysical theory which, accepted, works the cure. We think that the unprejudiced reader who has followed us this far will have seen that these metaphysical theories, creeds, and special dogmas are simply the outward mask of Suggestion. These healers simply supply a form of Suggestion which is acceptable to the patient because of his temperament, training, etc., and the healing process operates along the lines of the “faith cure.”
The fact that healers of entirely opposite theories and doctrines manage to make cures in about the same proportion and in about the same time, would seem to prove that the theories or dogmas have but little to do with the real work of healing. Whatever form of Suggestion is most acceptable to the patient, will best perform the healing work in that particular case. This will also serve to explain why some patients failing to obtain relief from one school of mental healing often are cured by healers of anotherschool, andvice versa. Some need Suggestion couched in the mystical terms of some of the cults; others need it garbed in religious drapings, while others prefer some vague metaphysical theory which seems to explain the phenomena. Others still are repelled by any of the above forms, but respond readily to the Suggestion of a physician administering “straight” suggestive treatment, without any religious, metaphysical, or mystical disguise. In all of these cases the real healing work is done by the Subconscious Mind of the patient himself, the various forms of Suggestion serving merely to awaken and rouse into activity the latent forces of nature.
We invite your consideration of the following forms of “treatment” for various disorders, as given by some of the “Divine Scientists” and other metaphysical and semi-religious organizations and cults. As you read them, try to discover the Suggestive germ so nicely surrounded by the sugar-coating—the Suggestive pill so cleverly concealed by the “metaphysical” raisin.
From a journal published in Chicago several years ago, called “Universal Truth,” the following “treatments” were clipped:
A correspondent who asked for a “treatment” adapted to the cure ofnervousness, is instructed to use the following formula, which must be “repeated over and over”:
“I am warmed and fed and clothed and healed by Divine Love.”
Another correspondent is given the following formula for the cure of sore feet, the affirmation to be made frequently:
“I so thoroughly understand the divine working of the Truth, and I so thoroughly realize the presence of the Father in me and about me that I am now conscious that omnipotent Love rules in every atom of my being, soul and body. My feet can never be weary nor sore. God created my feet perfect. I walk the pathway of life in perfect ease and comfort. All the obstacles in my path have vanished, and my feet are bathed in a sea of pure love. Through a knowledge and realization of the presence of Omnipotence, I praise and thank God for the perfect spirit of peace that now dwells within me.”
The following additional “treatment” is suggested to this sufferer fromsore feet:
“Mentally place yourself in an attitude to realize the power of the words you utter, for the fullness of peace and harmony in your feet comes with realization. The more frequently this spiritual medicine is used, the sooner comes manifestation of perfect health.”
The same journal contained the following item:
“The following invigorating affirmations are used at the Exodus Club, Chicago, Sunday mornings, the congregation repeating them after the leader:‘With reverent recognition of my birthright, I claim my sonship with the Almighty. I am free from disease and disorder. I am in harmony with my source. The Infinite Health is made manifest in me. The Infinite Substance is my constant supply. The Infinite Life fills and strengthens me. The Infinite Intelligence illumines and directs me. The Infinite Love surrounds and protects me. The Infinite Power upholds and supports me. I am out of bondage. I have the freedom of the sonsof God. With all that is in me I rejoice and give thanks. God and man are the all in all, now and forever more.’”
The same journal recommends the following affirmations for general health treatment:
“Monday—Perfect health is my external birthright.
“Tuesday—I have health of intellect, therefore I have wise judgment and clear understanding.
“Wednesday—I am morally healthful, therefore in all my dealings I love to realize that I am quickened by the spirit of integrity.
“Thursday—Healthfulness of soul gives me a pure heart and righteousness of motive in everything I do.
“Friday—Meditation upon the health of my real being outpictures in physical health and strength, in even temper, joyous spirits and in kind words.
“Saturday—My health is inexhaustible, because I keep my eye steadily fixed upon its eternal Principle, and my mouth filled with words of its Omnipotence.
“Sunday—The Father and I are one; onein purpose, alike in Substance, and one in manifestation.”
In the same journal a correspondent gives the following treatment forrupture:
“You were conceived in Divine Love. You are the expression of that pure, perfect Love. Divine Love is a binding, cementing power. It is the power that holds all atoms in their places. Every atom of your body is drawn and held together in its place by this power. If any of them get separated as by rupture or any other appearance, they may be drawn together and cemented by the omnipotent power of Love; but the word must be spoken. Therefore use the following: ‘The omnipotent spirit of Love in me heals this rupture and gives me peace.’ Then, mentally realize the truth of your words, for the Spirit alone can heal.”
The following treatment forappendicitisis given in the same journal:
“The false theories of physicians and surgeons, and the general impressions regarding that error named Appendicitis are powerless to produce or perpetuate such manifestation. The great law of harmony reignsand only waits the universal acknowledgment of its supremacy to obliterate all such falsity, thereby obliterating the manifestation. We claim, therefore, freedom from such error for every soul. We make this claim in the name of Jesus Christ.”
From the same source is taken this treatment forperiodical nausea in a child:
“Dear child, every organ of your body is designed to represent the ideal and perfect organ in your real spiritual being; and every function of your body must respond to the word of truth which is now sent forth to establish harmony in your consciousness. The infinite Love that is omnipresent and all-powerful permeates and penetrates every organ and function of your body, and corrects every tendency to discord or disease. By that infinite Love you are now made free. You are fearless and free. You are joyous and free. You are free from the fear of others. You manifest health, strength and peace. Harmony reigns in mind and body. The word of truth has made you free.”
Also the following treatment forconstipation:
“I do realize that the power of divine Love so permeates every atom of my being that my bowels move freely and without effort. This inflowing of divine Love removes all obstructions and I am healed. I realize joy and eternal life so fully that the spirit of Peace is ever present with me. I acknowledge the fullness of joy, peace and power, and have come into a realization of my oneness with infinite Spirit; therefore I rest in thee, O my father.”
Another journal of “Divine Science” gave the following “Health Thought” to be held during the month:
“All the natural channels of my body are open and free. The substance of my body is good.”
Also the following treatment forgeneral health:
“What is true of God is true of man. God is the One All, and is always in a state of wholeness. I, the man of God, am always whole, like unto the One All. No false belief environs or limits me. No shadow darkensmy mental vision. My body is a heavenly body, and my eyes do behold the glory of God in all visible things. I am well, and provided for, thank God, and nothing can make me think otherwise.”
While to the orthodox practitioner of medicine the above affirmation and “treatments” may seem to be nothing but a ridiculous conglomeration of mystical, religious and metaphysical terms, without sequence, logical relation, or common-sense,it is true that statements and treatments similar to the above have successfully healed many cases of physical ailments. There are thousands of people who will testify that they were healed in a similar manner, and the majority of them believed that there was some particular and peculiar virtue in the formula used, or in the theories and beliefs upon which the formula was based. But the unprejudiced student of Suggestion will readily see that the real healing force was with the mind and being of the patients themselves, and that thefaith, belief and expectant attentionwas aroused by the formula and the theories. The principle is that ofall Faith Cures—the principle of Suggestion.
Other schools of metaphysical or religious healers treat the patient by impressing upon his mind the fact that God being perfect, good and loving could not be guilty of creating evil, pain or disease, and that such things are non-existent in the “Divine Mind,” and are merely illusion, errors, or false claims of the “mortal mind,” or “carnal mind” of the patient; therefore, if the patient will deny their reality, and will admit as existent only such things as are held in the Divine Mind,i. e., thegoodthings, then the evil things, being merely illusions and untruths, must of necessity fade away and disappear and perfect health will result. Others treat their patients by impressing upon their minds the idea that sickness and disease is either the world or “the devil,” or of the “principle of evil,” the latter being described as “the negation of truth,” and similar terms; and that therefore fixing the mind and faith upon the “principle of Good,” or God, must result in driving awaythe evil conditions. Others hold that disembodied spirits are aiding in the cure. There are thousands of variations rung on the chimes of metaphysical or religious suggestions in the cults.And they all make some cures, remember—in spite of their theoriesrather than because of them.
The Mental Scientists come nearest to the ideas of the New Psychology, when they teach that “As a man thinketh, so is he,” and that the mind of man creates physical conditions, good and evil, and that the constant holding of the ideal of perfect health and the assertion thereof, will restore normal healthy conditions to the person suffering from physical ailments. Mental Science is very near to being “straight suggestion” so far as the actual method of treatment is concerned, although it resembles some of the other cults when it begins to speculate or dogmatize regarding the nature of the universe, etc.
Differing from these metaphysical, mystical, or religious schools of healing in theory, although employing the same principle, we find the school of Suggestive Therapeutics,proper, favored by many of the regular physicians and by a number of other healers who base their treatment upon the idea of “straight suggestion” coupled with hygienic truth and rational physiological facts. Perhaps a better idea of the theories and ideas of this school may be obtained by referring to the actual treatments given by some of their leading practitioners.
Herbert A. Parkyn, M. D., an eminent practitioner of Suggestive Therapeutics, gives the following instruction to his pupils: “Students often ask for information as to what they should say to a patient when thorough relaxation is realized. As no two cases are exactly alike, it follows that the suggestions given must necessarily fit the case, and be given with a view to bring about the mental and physical condition desired. For instance, in treating a patient who is afflicted with insomnia, suggestions of sleep should be persistently given; and in cases of malnutrition suggestions of hunger should be made to stimulate the appetite for food. The operator should bear in mind thatthe reiteration of the suggestion thatwill change the condition existing, to that desired, is always the right one, and his own intelligence will be the best guarantee as to what the suggestion should be.... Always arouse the expectant attention of a patient.... So logical a line of argument can be made that each patient will have a reason for expecting certain conditions to be brought about.With the patient’s attention on the desired results, they generally come to pass.It is better not to give negative suggestions, such as, ‘You will not, or cannot do this, that or the other thing,’ etc. Pointing out what is not desirable does not suffice. In place of such suggestions, tell what you really wish your patients to do. For example, if a man should mount his bicycle incorrectly, he would profit nothing if we should merely tell him that the way he mounted was not the proper one. How much easier it would be for all concerned if the proper manner of mounting should be shown at once. Just so it is with therapeutic suggestions,keep suggesting the conditions of mind or body you wish to bring about.”
The following treatment given as an example by F. W. Southworth, M. D., in his little book on “True Metaphysical Science, and its Practical Application through the Law of Suggestion,” furnishes an excellent illustration of the form of suggestive treatment favored by this particular school. The patient is addressed as follows:
“As thoughts are not only things, but forces and act upon our mental and physical life for good or ill, we must be careful to always keep ourselves in that condition of thought which builds up and strengthens, to constantly think thoughts ofhealth, ofhappiness, ofgood, to becheerful, hopeful, confident and fearless. (Repeat five or six times.) In order to sustain this condition of positive thinking it requires the development of the will power. The will is the motive power and the controlling force in all aspects of our life, but we develop it especially for the concentration and control of thought. This is the higher self—the infinite will. Exercise it with vigor and earnest persistency, and learn torelyupon it. Assert its power as you assert the power of themuscles in exercise and it will manifest itself and the thought will be positive, the secretions of the body will be normal, and the circulation of the blood in the head will be kept at that proper equilibrium which insures the constant nutrition of the cells of the brain and their constant vigor and strength of control of all the organs and tissues of the body, and this vast and intricate machinery of the body will work harmoniously for the production of nutrition through elaboration of the food elements.
“As our body is constantly changing and wasting, we must rebuild and restore it constantly, and we do so from the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. The most important of these is the air you breathe, as it is not only a food in itself to the tissues, but it vitalizes the food you eat and the water you drink. Give it that quality of your thought and breathe it as you have been directed at least six times per day for a period of from five to ten minutes each time. Recognize it as both a food and an eliminator of poisons, as it is, andbreathe, breathe, breathe, by Nature’s method, and the lungs will distribute the oxygen to the blood, and the blood being the common carrier of the body will take it to all parts of the body and on its return will gather up all the waste and poisonous matters and will bring them to the lungs, where, meeting the fresh oxygen, they will be burned up and exhaled as carbonic acid gas, leaving the body pure and clean.
“The water you drink, in the proportion of three and one-half pints each day, is necessary in all adult bodies to insure perfect secretion and excretion. As the result of this required liquid being provided in normal quantity, the secreting glands will manufacture the proper amount of juices needed in digestion, absorption and assimilation of your food, and the excreting glands, those which bring about excretion or the removal of waste matters from the body—the liver giving you the bile, which produces a daily movement of the bowels—the kidneys and bladder removing the chemical deposits which come about through the processes of digestion, and the skin excreting a largeamount of waste matter from its twelve square feet of surface, which you remove with a towel each morning after moistening it with cold water. By following these laws of Nature you will have a good appetite and digestion, a daily movement of the bowels, refreshing sleep, and, as your nutrition is restored from day to day, a feeling of satisfaction and happiness will be the result. Be earnest and persistent and do everything cheerfully, with a firm determination of doing your part to restore nutrition.
“When you breathe, give it the quality of your thought; it is for the purpose of getting food, life; feeding from the air and eliminating poisons from your body. (Repeat five and six times.) When you sip the water, think each time that it is to produce perfect secretion and excretion—to give you a good appetite, digestion, refreshing sleep and a free movement of the bowels each morning. (Repeat five or six times.) Each day look forward to the morrow for progress and advancement. Think health—talk it and nothing else. Do not talk with anyone about disease or allow any person totalk to you on such subjects.Be cheerful,hopeful,confidentand fearless always, and you will be happy and healthy. Eat, drink, breathe and be merry.”
It will be noticed that in the above described treatment, the suggestions are made along physiological and hygienic lines. That is, the suggestions indicate the physiological processes which are performed normally in the healthy person, the idea being to set up an ideal pattern for the Subconscious Mind to follow. In all scientific suggestive treatment the idea is always to paint a mental picture of thedesired conditionsrather than to dwell upon the existing undesirable conditions. Theidealis always held up to view, and the patient’s mind is led torealizethe ideal—to make the ideal real—to manifest the thought in action—to materialize the mental picture.
The general principles of Suggestive Therapeutics may be applied effectively by means of Auto-Suggestion. In fact, the “affirmations,” “statements” and “assertions” used by many of the New Thought schools are but forms of Auto-Suggestion.There is no essential difference between the Suggestion given by others, and the Auto-Suggestion given by one’s self to one’s self. The healing power is in the mind of the patient, and whether it is called forth by his own Auto-Suggestion or the Suggestion of a healer matters not. The Auto-Suggestion is merely a case of self-healing by Suggestion, and is administered upon the principle of “every man his own suggestionist”—“sez I to meself, sez I.” Auto-Suggestions are usually given to one’s self in the form of “affirmations,” as, “I am improving; my stomach is doing its work well, digesting what is given it, and the nourishment is assimilated, etc.” In other works by the writer hereof, the method of addressing one’s self as one would another is recommended as particularly efficacious. That is to say, instead of saying, “Iam, etc.,” in Auto-Suggestion, it is better to address one’s self in the second person, as “John Smith(naming yourself),youare, etc.” In short, the Auto-Suggestion seems to have additional force imparted to it by being directed as if it were being given to another person.
The following thought of Dr. Schofield is worthy of careful consideration in connection with the methods of applying Suggestion. He says, referring to the treatment of hysterical disorders and ailments: “We must, however, remember one great point with regard to suggestion—that it is like nitrogen. Nitrogen is the essential element in all animal life; it forms four-fifths of the air we breathe, and yet, curious to say, we have no power to use it in a pure state. We can only take it unconsciously, when combined with other substances in the form of proteid food. It is the same with suggestions. Not one hysterical sufferer in a hundred can receive and profit by them in a raw state—that is, consciously; they must generally be presented, as we have said, indirectly to the subconscious mind by the treatment and environment of the patient. An electric shock often cures slight hysterical diseases instantaneously, acting, as it often does, on the unconscious mind through the conscious. No doubt it would be easier if we could say to these sufferers, ‘The disease is caused by suggestions from ideal centers,and to cure it, all you have to do is to believe you are well.’ Still, it would be as impossible for us to take our nitrogen pure from the air, the mind cannot as a rule be thus acted on directly when the brain is unhealthy. Suggestion must be wrapped in objective treatment, directed ostensibly and vigorously to the simulated disease.”
Not only is the above true regarding the treatment of hysterical disorders, but toalldisorders as well. The methods which will bring about the best results must be carefully modeled upon the patient’s particular temperament, education, prejudices for and against, and general belief. The skilled suggestionist adapts his treatment and methods to each individual case coming to him for treatment. Whatever method will best arouse the patient’s belief, faith and expectant attention is the best method for administering the suggestions. The successful suggestionist must be “all things to all men,” never, however, losing sight of the fundamental principle of Suggestion—the arousing of faith, belief, and expectant attention.