Bible References for Healing

God has answers for all the negative things we have to say to ourselves.
 
You say, "It's impossible."
God says: "All thing are possible". (Luke 18:27)
 
You say, "I'm too tired."
God says: "I will give you rest". (Matthew 11:28-20)
 
You say, "Nobody really loves me."
God says: "I love you". (John 3:16 - John 13:34)
 
You say, "I can't go on."
God says: "My grace is sufficient." (II Corinthians 12:9 - Psalm 91:15)
 
You say, "I can't figure things out."
God says: "I will direct your steps." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
 
You say, "I can't do it."
God says: "You can do all things." (Philippians 4:13)

You say, "It's not worth it."
God says: "It will be worth it." (Romans 8:28)
 
You say, "I can't forgive myself."
God says: "I forgive you." (I John 1:9 - Romans 8:1)

You say, "I can't manage."
God says: "I will supply all your needs." (Philippians 4:19)
 
You say, "I'm afraid."
God says: "I have not given you a spirit of fear." (II Timothy. 1:7)
 
You say, "I'm always worried and frustrated."
God says: "Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)
 
You say, "I don't have enough faith."
God says: "I've given everyone a measure of faith." (Romans 12:3)

You say, "I'm not smart enough."
God says: "I give you wisdom." (I Corinthians 1:30)
 
You say, "I feel all alone."
God says: "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

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To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.

- Bertrand Russell

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Spirituality Prevents Depression in Old Age

By Jeanie Davis        WebMD Medical News

Feb. 19, 2002 -- Older people with a strong sense of spirituality -- of personal meaning in life -- are less likely to be depressed.

Researchers in England have added a new study to growing evidence regarding prayer and health. Like others, they found that faith does indeed positively affect one's health.

The new study explores the lives of recently bereaved older people, finding a clear association between level of belief, personal meaning, and well-being. Those who had weaker beliefs were much more likely to have symptoms of depression, says Peter Coleman, professor of psychology at the University of Southampton.

In fact, those with a sense of spirituality have far fewer mental health problems than others, says Coleman.

His study focused on 28 older people from the south of England, all of whom had a spouse die in the past six months. All came from various denominational Christian backgrounds. Coleman and colleagues talked with widows and widowers on the first anniversary of the spouse's death, six months later, and after the second anniversary.

Their objective: to learn how well the person had adjusted to bereavement, what role their belief systems played in that adjustment, whether they belong to a church, and what support their church provides. Researchers also took into consideration whether the person felt they needed counseling, from either a grief counselor or pastor.

Of the 28, nine indicated they had low or weak spiritual beliefs, 11 had moderate levels of belief, and eight had strong beliefs.

While those with strong beliefs were adjusting well, those with moderate beliefs thought their lives had lost meaning and purpose; several showed depressive symptoms during the second year after losing their spouse. One woman had major difficulties in adjusting to bereavement, and these were related to her doubts about her spiritual beliefs. But these beliefs seemed to be strong enough to help her eventually recover and gave her a sense of personal meaning.

Those with the weakest beliefs were having the most difficulty adjusting, showing more symptoms of depression.

Researchers also found that early experience with religion -- particularly faith handed down by parents -- was important. "It is possible to conceptualize the development of religious belief as in part an attachment process whereby trust in parents is extended to a higher power," says Coleman.

The decline in the practice of religion -- which has been apparent in the last 20 years among older people as well as the rest of the population -- does not mean that spiritual beliefs have declined, Coleman's report says. Many people still believe in some sort of transcendent power or in God. What has happened is the loss of respect for authority within Christian churches.

With that freedom, however, people end up being more isolated, not benefiting from the support that organized religion provides, he says.  

Physical Improvements Show Power of Suggestion

   " .  . this may mean that your brain has an inherent capacity to heal itself . . "

By Liza Jane Malton         WebMD Medical News 

April 30, 2002 -- Sometimes, simply thinking that medication will work can make it so. Researchers report that after taking a placebo, depressed patients felt better and had physical changes in their brains similar to those seen in patients who'd taken actual antidepressant drugs.

At the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Helen S. Mayberg, MD, and colleagues gave either Prozac or placebo to 17 depressed men, average age 49. At the time, neither the researchers nor the men knew who was taking which.

After six weeks, eight men reported feeling much better. Four of them had been taking Prozac and four had been taking the placebo.

The findings appear in the May issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The researchers found that men who responded to placebo and those who responded to an antidepressant had similar, but not identical, metabolic changes in thinking and emotional regions of the brain, says Mayberg in a news release. She is with The Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care at the University of Toronto.

In previous work, the team had found that for depression to lift, a readjustment, or rebalancing, has to take place within the brain. The metabolism in the emotional regions needs to slow down, while it speeds up in the thinking areas.

For the most part, that is precisely what happened in men who felt better after six weeks of treatment -- whether they'd been taking Prozac or placebo. Those taking the actual drug, however, did have certain other brain changes, as well.

"It could be that these additional changes facilitated by active drug are necessary to stay well over the long term," says Mayberg. "In other words, drug is a placebo-plus."

According to Mayberg, the findings "are consistent with the well-recognized placebo phenomenon that expectation that a treatment will be helpful is a critical part of the therapeutic relationship between a patient and doctor."

So if a sugar pill works just as well, why take real drugs -- with their high cost and potential side effects -- at all? Because the placebo effect usually doesn't last. "If you respond to a placebo, this may mean that your brain has an inherent capacity to heal itself," she says, "but it is likely a short-term effect."

What is Therapeutic Suggestion?

The Healing Power of Positive Thinking

By Jennifer Warner          WebMD Medical News

March 27, 2002 -- The power of thoughts like "I think I can, I think I can ..." may extend well beyond nursery rhymes. A new study shows positive thinking can help injured workers recover from their injuries faster and get back to normal activities.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, tracked the progress of more than 1,500 injured workers after they filed a claim for their injury with the Ontario Workers' Compensation Board. Researchers questioned the workers at regular intervals about their recovery expectations for a year after the claim.

They found factors such as the injured workers' perceptions about progress to date, expected change in condition, and expected length of time to return to normal activities were major predictors of how soon and how well the workers recovered.

"Our study provides further evidence that patients' expectations have a direct influence on their recovery," says study author Donald Cole, MD, a senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto, in a news release. "We found that among the patients we followed, those who had a positive outlook returned to work sooner and reported feeling better than those who had more negative or uncertain expectations."

For example, those who thought their recovery was going better than expected stopped receiving benefits 30% faster and likely went back to work quicker as a result. In addition, participants who said they were fully recovered or thought they would get better soon had a 25% faster recovery rate than those who thought they would never get or stay better.

Researchers say the study suggests that healthcare providers should listen to their patients' expectations for recovery. Negative or uncertain expectations may indicate that the person has other personal, social, or work-related barriers that may make recovery more difficult.

Is Religion Good Medicine?

By Salynn Boyles

WebMD Medical News

March 13, 2002 -- Call it the power of prayer or spiritual healing. People confronting illness often turn to religion for help, and there are increasing claims that those with strong religious beliefs are better able to recover from sickness and enjoy better overall health.

While few dispute that faith in a higher power can aid in healing, new research finds that there is little scientific evidence to back up the notion that prayer, going to church, and other religious activities provide health benefits. Researchers from Columbia University concluded that the vast majority of studies cited as linking religion to good health were misinterpreted or seriously flawed.

"I don't think anybody would dispute that religion provides enormous comfort to people in times of difficulty, medical or otherwise," lead author Richard P. Sloan, PhD, tells WebMD. "But those who believe that religion should be incorporated into medical practice are misrepresenting the science. People should engage in whatever religious activity they want without physicians making bogus claims about the benefits."

Sloan says he is disturbed by the move to incorporate religion into mainstream medicine at both the educational and clinical level. He estimated that more than half of the nation's roughly 120 medical schools now offer courses in religion and healing.

"If religion becomes just another arrow in the quiver of physician's interventions - no different, say, from a low-fat diet or blood-pressure medicine - that would be truly demeaning to the religious experience."

In the Columbia study, Sloan and coauthor Emilia Bagiella, PhD, conducted a literature search to find all studies published in 2000 dealing with the impact of religion on health. They also evaluated the studies included in two previously published reviews finding strong links between religious practice and health. Their report is published in the March issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

The researchers concluded that the majority of studies reviewed did not specifically address whether religion has a direct effect on health. Those that did, they write, often "had significant methodological flaws."

"There is little empirical support for claims of health benefits deriving from religious involvement," Sloan says. "To suggest otherwise is inconsistent with the literature."

But a Duke University researcher who has spent years studying the link between religion and health argues that it is Sloan's work that is flawed. Harold G. Koenig, MD, is author of The Handbook of Religion and Health, which is one of the two reviews criticized by the Columbia researchers.

"There is good science-based research showing an association between religion and good health," Koenig says. "These are prospective studies with large samples showing that religion is related to lower blood pressure, greater longevity, and certainly better mental health."

Koenig called the Columbia research "sloppy," and charged that the authors highlighted the studies with the least scientific merit while ignoring those that were scientifically sound.

"It is true that there is a lot of bad research out there, especially in the area of physical health," Koenig tells WebMD. "For a long time the National Institutes of Health didn't give grants to study religion, and some of the research isn't of the greatest quality because there was no support for it. But that is changing."

Anthropologist of religion Susan Sered, PhD, also studies religious-based healing at the Harvard Divinity School's Center for the Study of World Religions. She says there is more and more interest in incorporating faith into health at the community level. But she adds that the merging of religion and mainstream medical practice makes her somewhat uncomfortable.

"I think autonomy for religion and for medicine is an excellent thing. In the West, we have tried the model of combining the two in the form of the Catholic church during the middle ages. That was not a good model, and I don't think anyone wants to return to that."

She says it is probably not possible to accurately measure the impact of religion on health using clinical studies. But she adds that such studies do have merit in showing the benefits of a holistic approach to good health.

"Research showing that there are aspects of people's lives that impact their health status aside from how much they jog or how many vitamins they take can be enormously validating," she says.

"America is a profoundly religious society, and when people are suffering they tend to turn to both medicine and religion. When they have the flu they don't necessarily look to religion, but when they have long-term or serious illnesses, they generally pursue both religious and medical responses."

Helpful Links

National Cancer Institute   An extensive source of cancer information.  The site includes information on Coping with Cancer, Support groups, Cancer Literature,  Types of Cancer, Treatment, Prevention and more.

American Cancer Society  An extensive source of cancer information.  Learn about cancer, treatment, options, coping.  The site includes a message board: coping with diagnosis - the patient; coping with diagnosis - the family.  And lots more. 

Using Meditation to Deal with Pain, Illness and Death

National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship   A patient-led advocacy organization working on behalf of people with all types of cancer and their families.

American Society of Clinical Oncology   An interactive resource for oncology professionals and cancer patients.  ASCO OnLine  provides a range of   professionally edited  information,  as  well as interactive services for ASCO members.

Visit the MayoClinic.com where professionals will share trusted answers.  Take charge of your health.  Also, of interest is "Borderline personality disorder (BPD)" a serious emotional disturbance that is characterized by disappointing and unstable personal relationships, intense anger, feelings of emptiness and fears of abandonment — real or imagined.

Relieving the Suffering of the Mind - Teachings in Chinese Buddhism.  There are two types of suffering: suffering of the physical body, and suffering of the mind.