The principles of the law of attraction have also been interpreted in the realm of medicine and illness. In 1990, Bernie Siegel (a retired assistant clinical professor of surgery at Yale) published a popular book, Love, Medicine and Miracles, which asserted that the threat of disease was related to a person's imagination, will, and belief.[1] Siegel primarily advocated "love" as the source of healing and longevity stating that "if you want to be immortal, love someone."[2][3]
Siegel's description has been largely rejected by the medical community[4]. The most notable critic is neuroendocrinologist and Standford professor Robert Sapolsky, who devoted a whole chapter in his book Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers to critiquing Siegel. Sapolsky refers to Siegel's general idea as "benign gibberish" but is strongly critical of what he sees as blaming patients for their illness, based only on questionable anecdotal evidence[5]. Sapolsky sums up his primary criticism as follows:
Where the problems become appallingly serious is when Siegel concentrates on the main point of his book. No matter how often he puts in the disclaimers saying that he's not trying to make people feel guilty, the book's premise is that (a) cancer can be caused by psychosocial factors in the person; (b)cancer (or any other disease, as far as I can tell) is curable if the patient has sufficient courage, love and spirit; (c) if the patient is not cured, it is because of the insufficient amounts of those admirable traits. As we have just seen, this is not how cancer works, and a physician simply should not go about telling seriously ill people otherwise.[5]
- This looks good to me. I would state the dissertation reference specifically in response to: "based only on questionable anecdotal evidence". The dissertation employs standard scientific study process and documents concrete findings that aren't 'anecdotal'--Ahnalira (talk) 14:23, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
References
edit- ^ Kaptchuk, T., & Eisenberg, D. (1998). The Persuasive Appeal of Alternative Medicine. Annals of Internal Medicine, 129(12), 1061.
- ^ Woo, L. (1989, May 5). Doctor's prescription: Love yourself Caring can cure when science can't, Siegel tells 1,300. The Orange County Register.
- ^ Siegel, B. S. (1990). Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon's Experience with Exceptional Patients. Harper Paperbacks.
- ^ Surviving terminal illness with big dose of optimism Surgeon prescribes peace of mind. (1991, June 18).The Atlanta Journal, E1.
- ^ a b Sapolsky, R. M. (1998). Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, 2nd Edition: An Updated Guide To Stress, Stress Related Diseases, and Coping (2nd ed., p. 178-179). W. H. Freeman.