Wishful thinking

Well, yes, it has been quite a while since I have posted on this blog. I don't know, maybe I got bored, maybe I ran out of things to say, maybe I got busy. Whatever the excuse, it's not a valid one. I'm back, and I am going to regularly update.

Anyway, just recently I was having a discussion with a friend of mine about our sub-conscious. Does it control more than just our emotions and thoughts? Does our belief system play a larger role in our physical body than we think? Can our state of mind actually lead to, or prevent physical malady? In certain cases, I definitely believe so. Although I have not done extensive research in this field (obviously), I definitely believe that our minds play a large role in how our body reacts to external stimuli. An example is a phobia. Some phobias are inherent, and some are acquired. If severe enough, they will trigger a physiological response (usually triggering our sympathetic nervous system- the fight/flight scenario). An arachnophobic who comes across a spider, or in severe cases even looks at the above picture, will have blood rush to their extremities, their pupils will dilate, their heart beat will increase, etc. Do phobias not originate in the mind? Can they not be cured (in certain cases) with non-invasive treatment (ie. not medication)? What does this say about the phobia? Is it a disease of the mind, or of the body?

Modern science seems to blame all diseases on genetics. Although this may be true to a certain extent, other factors definitely play a role. Dr. Bruce H. Lipton sits on the other side of the fence. Attempting to minimize the notion of genetic determinism, he instead introduces the concept of stimuli-driven determinism. His work can be found at this website, and is worth taking a look at.

So, can a headache be healed by "thinking" it away? Maybe. How about cancer? Can we blame a person who dies of cancer for not being in the right train of thought? I don't think so. Although I don't have the answers, I think this topic is worthy of discussion. Your comments are welcome!