The Cancer Directory

Dr Candace Pert: The Scientific Basis for the Mind – Body Connection and the Need to Express Emotion

While both Hirschberg and Greer were gathering their data, huge breakthroughs were being made in the laboratory as the science of PNI, or psychoneuroimmunology, was rapidly expanding through the pioneering work of Dr Candace Pert. She studied the connection between our states of mind, the nervous system, the neuroendocrine system, and the function of the immune system and other healing tissues of the body. It all started with her discovery of the receptor for an opiate secreted in the brain. This naturally occurring opiate was later discovered and identified as endorphin (known as enkephalin in the US). This was a breakthrough, as endorphin was a new kind of messenger molecule different from the kind of neurotransmitters we had known about before. Endorphin was the first molecule to be identified as a neuropeptide or informational substance, and further informational substances were found to be present in all tissues of the body.

This finding started an avalanche of discovery so that, by the mid-1990s, a further 200 of these substances had been identified, secreted in response to different feelings and thoughts, and able to radically affect our tissue functioning. As the PNI findings began to link up with the medical studies, it became clear that those who are chronically stressed or lonely had depressed immune function – with both lower numbers and far lower activity levels in the immune cells. Similar findings were made in those with low self-esteem and those who chronically repressed their feelings. It was even found that the blood cells in depressed people actually carried less oxygen than those who are happy. Dr Pert had discovered that unexpressed emotions can become lodged in the body’s tissues in the form of ‘molecules of emotion’ inhibiting organ function.

The lesson here is:

• Stress over which we have no control, loneliness, grief and unexpressed feelings can inhibit both our immune function and tissue-healing capacity. Conversely, becoming happy and self-expressive can revive our tissue functioning.

Dr Susan Kobasa: The Role of Emotional Patterning

Things became even more interesting when it was found that the immune system has a memory, and that painful memories or repeats of past experiences in which a person has failed or been defeated, can also trigger immune collapse. Researcher Dr Susan Kobasa had described a psychological syndrome she termed ‘learned helplessness’, when those who had experienced failure earlier in life tended to keep repeating the pattern. Now science was showing that this result was mirrored in the immune system. On the other hand, she had also found that a ‘personality hardiness’ in those who respond to stress as a stimulating challenge resulted in a similarly healthy immune response. Here, at last, was a reason why earlier researchers could not make a direct link between stress and cancer – it depended not on stress per se, but on how the individual responds to stress.

The lesson here is:

• It is very important to provide psychological support to those who are not coping well and who see themselves as losers in order to change this underlying negative belief and replace it with strong, positive coping skills and experience of success.

Dr Leslie Walker: The Role of Empowering Cancer Treatment

The final piece of the jigsaw appeared more recently from UK researcher Professor Leslie Walker, who has worked for more than 20 years on the connection between mind – body approaches and improved survival in women with breast cancer. His recent study showed a staggering 17.5 per cent increase in survival 13 years after treatment in women who were taught relaxation techniques and, through hypnosis, to believe that their chemotherapy would cure them. In this case, the benefit of the treatment itself was 15 per cent, so the effect of the mind was greater than that of the medicine! Most interesting of all was the fact that the women who achieved this huge rise in survival rate were those whom Walker called ‘women who were too nice’. The medical description was ‘women with a high level of social conformity’ who tended to look after everyone else and bottle-up their own feelings. He also found an increase in immune function after relaxation and hypnotherapy, so once again it appears that a positive belief in cure and recovery is vital.

The lessons here are:

• It is vital to use visualization, affirmations or hypnotherapy to empower your treatments and to develop belief in their ability to cure you.

• It is important to identify and help those who are too ‘other-focused’ and to help them learn how to put themselves first.

Professors Spiegel and Fawzy: The Role of Support

This all fits with earlier studies done in the US, looking at the effects of psychological support on survival in those with breast cancer and melanoma. Professor David Spiegel showed a doubling of the average breast cancer survival time in those who had weekly support; Professor Fawzy showed a drop in the melanoma death rate from 10 per cent to 2 per cent in those who received weekly support, and confirmed an improvement in immune function, too. The emphasis in both interventions was on the expression of feelings (rather than being positive).

The lessons here are that:

• It is vital to receive support in expressing your feelings rather than bottling them up.

• Being positive does not mean hiding your grief or anger.

Blowing the Myth of Positive Thinking

If, while reading this, you have been feeling upset and emotional, please know that those who have a fighting spirit are almost always those who also have strong emotions and a big reaction to their diagnosis. It is absolutely normal to feel shocked and grief-stricken after receiving a diagnosis of a serious illness. Having a fighting spirit does not mean being permanently positive about having cancer and a fixed, determined grin on your face!

Some readers may misinterpret the information above, believing that it is harmful to become emotional or feel despondent at times about what is going on. This could not be further from the truth. According to PNI, a good cry or outburst of anger are just as good for boosting immune function as having a good laugh. It is repressing your feelings and becoming depressed that flatten the immune response. In fact, ‘fighters’ are defined by their ability to face reality, expressing the appropriate emotional response and ‘bottoming out’ with their feelings, and THEN to set about gathering the information and support they need to mount a realistic, proactive response to their situation.

Working Out How You Are Dealing With Your Diagnosis

Do you think you are reacting with a fighting spirit and believe in your power to heal yourself?

If you think you are reacting with anything other than a fighting spirit and want to change this, it important that you find help and support to deal with your diagnosis differently. Please go to the Resources Directory (pages 255–417) to find help in contacting a counsellor or psychologist trained in cognitive behavioural therapy to help you learn a more positive coping style. Your oncology department may also have a clinical psychologist who can help you, especially if your pattern is to give up and collapse in the face of difficulty.

Do you believe in the power of your cancer treatments to cure you?

You may choose to work with a hypnotherapist to develop powerful positive associations with your treatments, or you could use the relaxation and visualization exercises given in Cope Positively with Cancer Treatment, a CD available from Health Creation (call the Helpline on 0845 009 3366), to empower your treatments.

Do you need help from prayer or spiritual healing?

Contact the local prayer group associated with your church or religious group. Find a healer through the National Federation of Spiritual Healers (helpline: 0845 123 2767). They also do distant healing through prayer for those who are unable to get to a healer. Some of their healers will visit the home or hospital if necessary.

Have you got enough psychological support to express your feelings fully?

Find out about local support groups and counsellors from your GP, the hospital or the Resources Directory (pages 255–417).

So, far from pretending you feel all right if you do not, with support, try to face what is really happening to you, express your feelings, and then create an action plan based on your true situation and needs. Once you have done this, you will feel genuinely positive that you have a working plan and are back in control again.

Underlying States of Mind that May Need to Change

As well as the states of mind that arise in reaction to the diagnosis, there is the question of what was going on for you emotionally before you were diagnosed. As you move into your healing journey, it is important to look at the big issues of:

• improving your will to live

• decreasing your stress levels

• learning to express your feelings in everyday life

• letting go of loneliness and depression

• healing emotional wounds from the past

• identifying and changing the ‘limiting beliefs’ by which you live your life.

Looking at your will to live

The nitty-gritty issue for anyone facing a life-threatening diagnosis is the question of how strong is your will to live? This is a highly confrontational question, but a vital one to nail if you are going to succeed in fighting cancer. Carl Jung realized many years ago that all of us have an equal and opposite urge towards life (eros) and towards death (thanetos). When the eros side is strong, we feel powerful and passionate towards life. But when thanetos is dominant, death can seem very seductive.

So, do not feel that you are alone if the diagnosis of cancer has in some way excited you or felt like a good way out of the stress and distress of living. Ultimately, of course, we all have to die. Dying is a totally natural part of living. But it is awfully sad and wrong to give up and allow yourself to die because your spirit has been crushed by loneliness, grief, disappointment or a broken heart.

I have often witnessed incredible healing when someone has genuinely turned the corner and chosen life. For you, perhaps the diagnosis of cancer can be a real turning point and an opportunity to say ‘yes’ again to finding joy in living. This may happen quite naturally because often the diagnosis of cancer itself throws into sharp focus all that is precious about your life. But if you feel ambivalent about living, the best help you can get is to work with a transpersonal or psychosynthesis counsellor who will work with you gently and creatively to rekindle your zest for life. This is explored more fully in Chapter 9.

The problem of stress

A little bit of stress is healthy and often brings out the best in us. But prolonged stress, particularly stress over that which we feel we have no control over is a major depressant of our immune function. It may be hard to accept but, usually, the stress we are experiencing is of our own making. This is either because we get ourselves into or tolerate ridiculously stressful situations or because we have innate self-stressing tendencies, pushing ourselves to unrealistic limits. It really comes down to deciding that your health and happiness is more important than the goals for which you strive. The diagnosis of cancer can be the most perfect excuse to pull out of anything that is causing you stress.

Expressing your feelings

The next new trick you may need to learn is how to express your feelings in everyday life (not only in relation to the diagnosis). You have already discovered how those who are too nice have suppressed immune function. It is good to copy the Europeans and let rip with your feelings! Remember, anger is as good at improving white blood cell activity as laughter.

Getting out of isolation and loneliness

Another problem for our immune system is isolation and loneliness. So, do everything you can to get back into connection with people. This can be through belonging to groups who support and value you – whether that is a regular class, or a support, community or religious group. Nowadays, there are a huge number of growth and development classes you can join, and there are many support groups that either relate specifically to cancer or are less specific, such as women’s or men’s groups.

Getting out of depression, fear and anxiety

Perhaps you have more serious problems mentally and realize that you are actually depressed. Here again, you are not alone! It is estimated that up to 77 per cent of people with cancer are measurably depressed and it is really little wonder with all the uncertainty and trauma that are experienced. Most cancer units have a clinical psychologist whose job it is to help people come out of cancer-related depression or anxiety, so this route might be worth investigating if you feel really down. But a combination of support from a support group, counselling and spiritual healing can be equally good to lift depression. If you consider yourself to be a fearful or anxious person, this is another state of mind that it would be good to change. The best way of cracking fear and anxiety is by learning to relax and, better still, to meditate or to have a soothing massage or aromatherapy.

Freeing ourselves of limiting beliefs

Most of us allow ourselves to be governed by the limiting beliefs we have picked up during our childhood as to what we are able to achieve or not. This means that, if we have learned that we don’t ever succeed, or that we are not loveable or that good things never happen to us, then this is what happens to us. It is like we have been programmed with faulty software, which will always stop us from reaching our potential and achieving what we want. But through the integrated medicine revolution, a huge number of effective ways of changing our state of mind have surfaced, including developing self-esteem and confidence, and replacing negative beliefs with positive ones. If you recognize that you are being run by your limiting beliefs, then NLP (neurolinguistic programming) can be a powerful tool to change this.

Getting the Help You Need
Counselling

The first step is usually finding someone who will listen really well to what you are going through. This is usually found in a counselling relationship and, again, I would recommend transpersonal or psychosynthesis counselling, where the state of the spirit is given attention along with help to change our feelings, beliefs and behaviour in positive ways.

The counselling relationship is often believed to be only about helping you to accept what is happening to you, grieving appropriately and becoming adapted to the change. However, in transpersonal or psychosynthesis counselling, the relationship is more about trying to find out what is right about your life and only needs your focused attention to flourish. Help can be given to try to see the message in the crisis and to grow positively from the experience, rather than just learning to accept what is happening.

This is a far more positive and creative form of counselling that fits well with the integrated medicine model. Yes, you may need some straightforward compassionate counselling at first, to help you deal with the shock and your reactions but, later on, you need a counsellor who can help you reframe the crisis as an opportunity for healing and growth. A counsellor of this kind may also help you look at the benefits you may be gaining from illness, helping you learn how to get these benefits without having to be ill. A good counsellor will help you change from being passive in your life to taking an active role in the creation of your ideal lifestyle. He can help you rekindle your will to live and reconnect with that which really turns you on.

Often, a transpersonal or psychosynthesis counsellor will also be able to help you develop a positive mental focus through developing visualization or affirmations with you to help you strengthen your belief in yourself and in your healing. Your counsellor, or a spiritual advisor, can also help you in your spiritual explorations, perhaps helping you to open up to the possibility of healing from a higher source.

The important thing is not to see a counselling relationship as being only about helping you when you are in extreme distress or seeing it as meaning that there must be something wrong with you. Having regular counselling throughout your recovery process can completely transform a potential nightmare into a true blessing, helping you to grow and even benefit in the long term.

Preparing for the Worst, Working for the Best

Another helpful role of the counsellor is to help you, if you feel you need to, face and plan for the worst-case scenario that could happen. You can then spend much less time worrying and fantasizing about it, and get on with creating a different, much more positive reality. This may mean that you choose to use some of your early sessions with your counsellor thinking about how you would feel, and what would need to happen if everything went really badly.

If you do this, the level of detail that you go into is up to you, but it could involve thinking right through the practicalities of whether you have made a will, what financial resources are available for your dependants, who would care for them if you were unable to, and how you would like to be cared for if you become disabled and dependent. You can even go into the details of where you would like to die and what kind of funeral you would like to have. This will inevitably force you to face your feelings and beliefs about death, so you may also need the help of a spiritual advisor. This may sound extremely grim, but most people who have employed this head-on approach have found it tremendously liberating. Paradoxically, any step you take in the direction of both healing old wounds and preparing to let go of life will enable you to live all the more fully. This, in turn, will enhance your energy, vitality and health and, consequently, the chances of stabilizing your disease.

Healing Your Emotional Wounds

Another thing that might emerge from this process is the urge to complete unfinished emotional business with anyone against whom you are holding a grudge, or by whom you feel you have been aggrieved or hurt. It may not be necessary to go anywhere near these people to do this work – it may be quite possible to make your peace with others during your counselling sessions. This often has very surprising results, as the dynamics of these old and difficult situations and relationships can often change dramatically once you have shifted your position.

Attending to these background emotional issues will be part of your long-term Health Creation Programme (see Chapter 9) and be best addressed after you have been through your treatment.