The 3 major social instruments of healing

[Mary]

From this article

"Extensive scientific work by my group, including more than 160 scientific publications, has demonstrated that the three major social instruments of healing are altruism, work, and spirituality. These elements provide concrete methods and tools to promote recovery from trauma. They stimulate biological repair, assist in the construction of post-trauma attitudes and beliefs, and shift the survivor from isolation to rejoining the community.

The social instruments of self-healing are equally relevant for people facing serious health threats such as cancer. Patients confronting medical illnesses share many experiences with those affected by violence. Often the onset of the disease is sudden. The whole world of the patient is completely transformed by the disease and its potential threat to their quality of life and mortality. The illness becomes a traumatic event.

And all of the forces of self-healing found in traumatized people are activated in those with serious illness."

[Deb]

I read your article Mary.. I found this part hit very close to home. This is how I feel about this group:

Exposure to these women galvanized her to action. She became involved in a network of volunteers who provided moral support and services, such as transportation and meals to women with cancer. After working with the group for a few months, she found that her preoccupation with her own death had ceased. In its place was a deeper connection with her spiritual self and a profound sense of gratitude for each new day that found her alive, healthy, and able to contribute.


How amazing that these little words become so important in our lives. If you had said these words to me before I was diagnosed it would have meant nothing to me... More to the point I would have thought the doctor was placating someone rather than really trying to help..   

I always start out by telling people the scientific reality that they can recover. "You will get better." That one sentence changes the whole therapy. The person goes from extreme hopelessness to feeling very optimistic. A positive prognosis is the beginning of a cure.