Mind Over Medicine Overview: Recent science has moved beyond a doubt that the way we think has a profound effect on our health. The way in which we live our life may be the very most important factor in our well being. And by this, I don’t mean how well we eat, or how many vitamins we take. Rather, I’m referring to our feelings. The feelings we have about ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, close relationships, social ties, spirituality, sexuality, and more.
Lissa Rankin, M.D. had been a practicing physician for some time. However, her experiences in the current medical system moved her to seek a complementary perspective to common western medicine.
Her journey took her through thousands of research studies regarding the placebo effect as well as case studies of spontaneous remission of serious disease. What she found was that all these seemingly miraculous cases had common patterns. The placebo effect is well known in the scientific community, but it is rarely given second thought. Dr. Rankin, however, takes the scientific evidence and brings it to light.
Our body has the power to heal. It takes opening our minds to let it do so.
The expectations we have profoundly affect the outcomes of our health. The attitudes we hold can truly be a matter of life and death. Mind Over Medicine is a fantastic exploration of the fascinating and incredible ways we are able to use our mind to heal our bodies. Combining the emotional, social, spiritual, sexual, and environmental realms, Dr. Rankin shows us scientific proof that we all have the power to heal. She teaches us to do so by tapping into the innate healing abilities each of our bodies possess. This capability is fundamental to our existence, and one that may ultimately free us from the confines of disease, both emotional and physical.
Memorable Quotes:
“I came to see that these patients were unhealthy, not because of bad genes or poor health habits or rotten luck, but because they were gut-wrenchingly lonely or miserable in their bad relationships, stressed about work, freaked out about their finances, or profoundly depressed. Most, when I asked on my intake form “What’s missing from your life?” wrote a long list. And when I asked the same questions in person, the majority of these patients wept. Something was going on that had nothing to do with vegetables or exercise or vitamins.
On the flip side, I had other patients who ate poorly, exercised rarely, forgot to take their supplements, and enjoyed seemingly perfect health. When I read their intake forms, they revealed that their lives were filled with love, fun, meaningful work, financial abundance, creative expression, sexual pleasure, spiritual connection, and other traits that differentiated them from the sick health of enthusiasts. They were, in essence, happy. And even though they didn’t take the best care of their bodies, their bodies responded with good health.”
“It’s time for a serious paradigm shift, with doctors playing the role of educators, helping patients optimize all that Western medicine has to offer, teaching them about nutrition, exercise, and other preventive health strategies while also addressing lifestyle issues that may contribute to health problems, such as loneliness, work stress, financial worries, and pessimism. It’s also the responsibility of health-care providers to educate and encourage our patients to make lifestyle choices that improve health, such as meditation and other spiritual practices, creative expression, sex, and healthy social interactions. Once we do our best to diagnose, educate, and deliver any conventional medicine treatments the patients choose, perhaps we belong in the back seat, leaving the patient in the driver’s seat, with the doctor serving more as a trusted consultant than as the boss of the body.”
The Bottom Line: If you want to create an emotional life that is both nurturing and rewarding, this book can help you get there. If you are fighting any illness, of the body or mind, Dr. Rankin may be able to provide the evidence and inspiration needed to help get you through it. Mind Over Medicine is a game-changer. Reading it can be a life-saver.
