灵与药

by Lissa Rankin

What if the key to health isnt just eating a nutritious diet， exercising daily， maintaining a healthy weight， getting eight hours of sleep， taking your vitamins， balancing your 1）hormones， or seeing your doctor for 2）regular checkups？ What if you have the power to heal your body just by changing how your mind thinks and feels？

I know it sounds radical， especially coming from a doctor. Trust me， I was just as skeptical when I first discovered the scientific research suggesting that this might be true. Surely， I thought， the health of the human body isnt as simple as thinking ourselves well or worrying ourselves sick. Or is it？

A few years ago， after 12 years of conventional medical education and eight years of clinical practice， I had been thoroughly 3）indoctrinated into the dogmatic principles of evidence-based medicine， which I worshipped like the Bible. I refused to trust anything I couldnt prove with a randomized， controlled clinical trial. Plus， having been raised by my father， a very conventional physician who made fun of anything “New Age，”I was as 4）hard-nosed， closed-minded， and cynical as they come. The medicine I had been trained to practice didnt support the idea that you can think yourself well or make yourself sick with the power of your thoughts and emotions. Sure， my medicalschool professors diagnosed some illnesses that lacked biochemical explanations as “all in the patients head，” but those patients were promptly and quietly referred to psychiatrists， while eyes were rolled and heads were shook.

Its no wonder the notion that the mind might have the power to heal the body would be threatening to many mainstream doctors. After all， we spend a decade learning the tools that supposedly give us mastery over other peoples bodies. We want to believe that the time， money， and energy weve put into becoming doctors isnt wasted. Were professionally and emotionally invested in the idea that if something breaks down physically， you must seek our expertise. As doctors， we like to believe we know your body better than you do. The whole medical establishment is based on such a notion.

Most people are happy to function within this paradigm. The alternative—that you have more power to heal your own body than youve ever imagined—lobs the responsibility for health back into your court， and many people feel like thats just too much responsibility. Its much easier to hand over your power and hope someone smarter， wiser， and more experienced can “fix” you. But what if weve got it all wrong？ What if， by denying the fact that the body is naturally wired to heal itself and the mind operates this self-healing system， were actually 5）sabotaging ourselves？

As physicians， things inevitably happen on our watch that science simply cant explain. Even the most closed-minded doctors witness patients who get well when， by every scientific 6）rationale， they shouldnt. When we witness such things， we cant help questioning everything we hold dear in modern medicine. We start to wonder if there is something more mystical at play. Doctors dont usually discuss this possibility in front of patients， but they do whisper about it in the doctorslounges of hospitals and inside conference rooms at 7）Ivy League universities. If youre curious and you pay attention—like I do—you hear stories， stories that blow your mind.

You hear people whispering about the woman whose cancer shrank away to nothingness during radiation. Only afterward did the doctors discover that the radiation machine was busted. She hadnt actually received one lick of radiation， but she believed she had. So did her doctors.

They talk about the man who had a heart attack who refused heart surgery only to have his “incurably” blocked coronary 8）arteries open up after changing his diet， beginning an exercise program， doing yoga， meditating daily， and attending group therapy sessions.

As I heard these stories， I couldnt ignore the gnawing voice within me. Surely， these people couldnt all be liars. But if they werent lying， the only explanation was something beyond what I had learned in conventional medicine. It got me thinking. We know spontaneous， unexplainable remissions sometimes happen. Every doctor has witnessed them. We just shrug our shoulders and go on about our business， usually accompanied by a dull， unnerving sense of dissatisfaction because we cant explain the remission with logic. But in the back of my mind， Ive always 9）pondered whether its possible we have any control over this process. If the “impossible” happens to one person， is there anything we can learn from what that person did？ Are there similarities among the patients who get “lucky”？ Are there ways to optimize the chances of spontaneous remission， especially when effective treatment doesnt exist in the standard medical toolbox？ And what， if anything， can doctors do to facilitate this process？

如果有人告诉你：“保持身体健康的秘诀不仅仅是要有一个营养丰富的饮食习惯，坚持每日锻炼，保持正常体重，睡够八小时，补充维生素，平衡荷尔蒙，定期看医生。”你会怎么看？如果说你自己本身就有治愈疾病的力量，而这一力量的实现，只需改变你的想法和感觉，你又怎么看？

我知道，这听起来有些激进，尤其这些竟是出自一位医生之口。请你相信：当我初次发觉一些科学研究证实这一观点有可能正确时，我也持怀疑态度。当然，我认为保持身体健康不仅仅是“想象我们很健康，或是担心我们生病”这么简单。还是说，就是这么简单？

几年前，也就是在我经过十二年传统医科学习和八年临床实践之后，我被彻底灌输了“循证医学”的教条，并视这些教条为医学领域的《圣经》。我只相信那些通过随机对比临床实验证明的事情。此外，我由父亲抚养长大，他是一位十分守旧的医生，常常取笑一切号称“新纪元”的事物。因此，对于新事物的出现，我也是嗤之以鼻，不闻不问，甚至冷言嘲笑。我所接受的医学教育从未证实这样的观点——人可以单凭思想和情感就能治病或得病。当然，我的医学教授们也曾碰到过一些缺乏生化理据的疾病，他们称其为“全由患者大脑控制”。于是，那些患者被马上悄悄地转介去看精神科医生；与此同时，他们只是翻翻白眼摇摇头。

思想可以治愈身体疾病的这一论调，无疑会对许多主流医生造成威胁。毕竟，我们这些医生花费了十几年的时间和精力来学习如何从医，所以我们理应比患者更懂得他们的身体。我们当然不愿看到我们学医这么些年所花费的时间、金钱和精力都化为枉然。于是，我们不论在专业还是情感上都大力宣扬这样的观点：如果你的身体生病了，你必须寻求我们医生的专业指导。作为医生，我们理所当然地认为我们比你更加了解你的身体。何况，整个医疗系统都是建构在这种信念之上的。

而且，大多数人乐于接受这种模式。与之相对的观点——你自己拥有更强大的力量来治愈你的疾病，这种力量超乎你想象，这无异于是将守卫健康的责任球抛回自己的场地。很多人会觉得这个责任太大，害怕担负不起。相比之下，你会将你的权利和希望交给那些比你更聪明、更有智慧和经验的人，因为这种做法会相对容易些。但是，如果我们都错了呢？如果我们否认身体有自愈的能力，并且这一自愈能力是由思想控制的，我们是不是在蓄意破坏我们自己呢？

即使作为医生，我们也只能无可奈何地看着一些事情发生，却不能作出任何科学解释。即使是最保守的医生也曾见证过一些病人通过自身治愈了疾病，本来按科学理据那是不可能的。当我们经历这些事情时，我们不禁质疑我们所崇信的现代医学中的一切。于是，我们开始思考难道真的存在更为神秘的力量？医生们不会在病人面前讨论这类事情，但他们会在医生的休息室里或是常春藤盟校的会议室密谈这种种可能。如果你像我一样充满好奇、留心聆听，你肯定也能听到形形色色的故事，那些故事会令你十分震惊。

你会听到人们在悄悄议论一位妇女在接受放疗后，她的癌细胞减少为零。可是，之后医生们却发现她的放疗机器一直是坏的。因此，她没有接受到丝毫放疗，而她自己却一直认为在接受治疗。医生也这么想。

他们讨论那个得了心肌梗塞的男人，这是一种不可治愈的心脏病。可他拒绝心脏手术，最后他凭借自己的力量打通了动脉。而这一奇迹仅仅是靠他改变饮食、开始运动、学习瑜伽、每日冥想，和参加团体心理治疗实现的。

听着这些故事，我不能忽视内心那个挥之不去的声音。当然，那些人不可能全部都在撒谎。但是，如果他们没有撒谎，那唯一的解释就是我所学的传统医学之外的力量在起作用。这让我不得不思考。我们知道有时会发生一些自发的、不可解释的癌细胞减少情况。并且，每个医生都见证过这些奇迹，但我们仅仅是耸耸肩，继续忙着各自的事情。此时，我们常常会暗暗觉得不爽气馁，因为作为医生，我们不能用逻辑来解释这些癌细胞减少的现象。但是我常常深思：我们是否真的可能控制这整个过程。如果这种“不可能”确实发生在了某个人身上，我们是否可以从他身上学到一些什么？那些获得“幸运”的病人之间有没有相似性呢？尤其在标准医学治疗中并不存在十分有效的治疗的情况下，是否存在着一些方法可以提高癌细胞减少的机率呢？如果有可能的话，医生又可以做些什么来促进这一过程呢？