Choosing Joy

Part 9: Symptoms - an update

I have been applying my depression-symptom-beating protocols for three weeks now and there are a few things I can report.  The first is that I really am feeling better about life.  If I am totally honest then I think 99% of the change comes from the simple fact of me deciding to do something and taking action. What I am saying here is that I think I would be feeling a great deal better if I did any random group of things that I believed would help.  But that is, after all, the basis of the placebo effect and we know that this is a very powerful effect indeed.

I'd like to take a second to talk about that. The placebo effect is a medically well-documented phenomenon. It basically shows that a certain percentage of patients will get better from whatever ailment they are suffering if they are given a non-medicating pill (a sugar pill or a salt pill for example). Placebo is always more effective than doing nothing and so, when new medications seek approval they must show that they are more effective than the placebo.

But we never really stop to think about WHY placebo works. What does it mean that I can give you a pill that does nothing but, because you believe it is a real medicine, you get better? I contend that you are actually ingesting a belief that you are doing something about your symptoms. And belief is the most powerful thing in the universe. If your belief that you will feel better is stronger than your belief in your illness then you will feel better. Simple as that. And if that isn't the case... why does placebo work?

And there is another odd conundrum. Apparently, Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why. 

It seems the consciousness of human beings on planet earth is evolving. Folks like myself who make noises from the spiritual fringe have been saying this for some time. Now there is evidence in the fact that the placebo effect is getting more powerful. Another way of saying this is: human belief is becoming a measurably more powerful tool of healing. 

So, while I find all this fascinating, it does leave me wondering. How much of what I am doing right now is making me feel better... and how much is it simply my belief that I am doing the right things?

Does it matter?

Not really. 

The point is I am REALLY beginning to feel different about my life. I am feeling positive and energised and up-beat in a way I have NEVER before felt. Not just when I am on-target doing some work, not just when I am in-session with a client... but all the time.

Oh, and the other thing that happened was that I discovered I had a mild allergy to St. John's Wort. It gave me indigestion. So I stopped that at about the two-week mark. I could have replaced it with 5-HTP (this is the serotonin precursor for the brain) or one of a number of other herbal supplements but since I am doing fine without it I decided against that. 

And, yes, in the mean-time I have also made some strides on the front of working out the cause of my depression.  I'll tell you about that in my next post...