[MD] The value of ritual

[Ham Priday]

Platt and Bodvar --


This provides a rare opportunity to pair you two up on a topic other than 
the intellectual level!

The witch doctor or mdicine man who practiced his ritual of herbs and magic 
potions on tribal cultures was believed to have supernatural healing powers; 
and that belief alone undoubtedly played a significant role in the efficacy 
of the ritual.

Bo asks:
> Where do you place rituals in the static hierarchy?
> Or do you see rituals as "stability" itself?

I think Platt may have put too much emphasis on this aspect of medical 
practice.  Reference to "ritual" came up only at the end of the Boston Globe 
article where it concerned a Harvard researcher's study of patients with 
irritable bowel syndrome.  None of the three groups studied actually 
received treatment, and Kaptchuk was comparing the results of sham treatment 
applied "in a friendly, empathetic way" as opposed to a "businesslike" way, 
or not at all.  Kaptchuk said nothing about "rituals" in his conclusions 
about the doctor/patient relationship; only that that "connecting with the 
patient, rapport, empathy ... that few extra minutes is not just icing on 
the cake.  It has biology."

The power of positive thinking had a long history of success before Norman 
Vincent Peale turned it into a best-selling book.  True, as Bo said, a 
positive attitude and placebos will "not heal broken bones or open clogged 
heart arteries."  But it's an accepted fact, even to the medical profession, 
that patients who are optimistic about the outcome of their treatment 
recover faster, with less chance of infection, and live longer on average 
than those who are not.  Some attribute this anomaly to "faith" (in God or 
the cure) which, if strong enough, may lead to a "miracle recovery".

Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, believed in total 
submission to the will of an all-powerful God.  Her belief was based on the 
doctrine that whatever happens is because God wills it.  Christian 
Scientists are known for not using medicine, believing that illness is an 
illusion caused by faulty beliefs and that prayer heals by replacing false 
thoughts with spiritually true ones.  (Sound familiar?)

My maternal grandmother was a "Scientist" who contracted breast cancer in 
her 80s but refused to see a physician.  She was cared for at home where she 
was visited by members of the church and cared for by my aunt (a nurse) who 
comforted her mother until she died peacefully in her bed at the age of 88.

Most of the people I've known who've lived long, productive lives were 
robust in spirit as well as body.  This suggests that the physical health of 
an individual is in large part due to his/her "state of mind".  We know, for 
example, that anxiety can lead to depression, which is deleterious to 
health.  It follows that the person who is "at peace with himself" 
spiritually--whether by virtue of a philosophical worldview or a religious 
conviction--is not only better able to realize life's value while in good 
health, but better prepared to live out his final days more fulfilled and 
content than someone troubled and conflicted about the nature and meaning of 
the life-experience.

Thanks for linking us to this article, Platt.  And thanks to Bo for pointing 
out that "it's the objective scientific attitude that has revealed the 
placebo effect and does experiments on it."

Best regards,
Ham