healing energies to work for you. A person with low self-esteem lacks self-trust. And trust in oneself is
the necessary element to trigger the placebo response, which is needed to truly cure any disease (versus
just removing symptoms).
This connection also works when the healing response is triggered by an external source such as
another person, like a therapist or a healer. The success that hands-on healing or prayer can have for a sick
person is the result of a two-way process but largely depends on the patient’s receptivity, deserving
ability, and acceptance. If he believes that he deserves to be healed, his body and mind become more
receptive to the healing energies, which may include those generated through prayer and loving thoughts.
For an increasing number of people, natural forms of healing are much more likely to trigger a placebo or
healing response than standard medical procedures, which explains the current tremendous interest in
alternative or complementary forms of medicine.
The Paradigm Shift
A definite shift is taking place among medical doctors in the United States and other industrialized
nations from the specialized areas of practice toward a more holistic approach to health and healing.
Many MDs are becoming disillusioned with their limited field of expertise, which mainly consists of
conducting blood tests, giving EKGs, using scalpels, or prescribing pills for diagnosed symptoms of
illness. A significant number of U.S. medical schools are now adding courses on holistic and alternative
medicine, subjects that were considered taboo in medical circles not long ago. As mentioned before,
modern high-tech medicine cannot be applied to chronic diseases. Medical attention is indispensable
during situations of crisis when organs have failed, when injuries caused by accidents require surgery or
when someone is fighting a life-threatening infection. The vast majority of illnesses, however, are
chronic in nature. They include high blood pressure, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis,
diabetes, depression, and other acute disorders that become chronic, including cancer and AIDS.
Patients are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the endless high-tech scans and tests provided
by modern medicine. They offer none of the personal care and encouragement which an ill person, in
need of a positive placebo effect, so badly needs. This feeling of alienation and helplessness drives many
into the hands of alternative practitioners who spend more time with their patients and offer them
approaches that include self-help programs like meditation, yoga, dietary advice, and natural remedies. In
1997 Americans made 627 million visits to practitioners of alternative medicine and spent $17 billion of
their own money to pay for alternative therapies, including cancer treatment. It is estimated, by none other
than the Harvard Medical School, that one out of every two persons in the United States between the ages
of 35 and 49 used at least one alternative therapy in 1997. In Australia, 57 percent of the population now
use some form of alternative treatment. In Germany 46 percent do, and in France 49 percent do. In
addition, a daily increasing number of medical practitioners are turning “alternative.” Note: Going
“alternative” does not necessarily mean you are better off than using conventional methods of therapy. Up
to 30 percent of people who visit an alternative practitioner claim to be “very dissatisfied” by the
treatment they receive, and up to 24 percent of people using an alternative treatment have reported some
adverse reaction to their treatment.
Consumer demand and the economic crisis of the medical system are probably the main reasons that
increasing numbers of medical practitioners have turned to low cost treatments and even to prayer and
spirituality. Particularly in the United States, where insurance fees for malpractice are exorbitant,
physicians are increasingly interested in attending to their patients’ spiritual needs. By building more
personal relationships with their patients, a doctor lowers his risk of litigation considerably. This may
also restore the doctor's image as an infallible caretaker, a role that used to be the rule rather than the