MEANING SHIFT
In a holistic medical approach, a shift in the meaning of symptoms and illnesses to the patient can be profoundly transformative. Most people go to a health practitioner to get a “problem fixed” and be cured. If the person focuses on increased health, vitality and well being, the suffering created by focusing on the symptoms can diminish or disappear. This is related to a shift in perception or meaning, rather than an actual change in the physical symptoms.
A second important shift is from seeing the illness as a problem to seeing illness as a teacher. Our body is giving us feedback constantly about our choices and behaviors. A symptom or illness is an attempt to return to a state of balance and wholeness. If we take the opportunity to engage in inner dialogue with our body, emotions and thoughts, we will usually experience insight into where our illness may have come from. Dreams can be particularly powerful in sending this information to us, if we only pay attention and work to unravel the symbolic messages. A skilled healer can assist us in seeing the connections between our thoughts, emotions and behaviors and the symptoms we are experiencing. With this valuable information, we can then make changes that will promote healing.
In the past, patients were seen as passive participants in their healthcare. This is changing to patients coming active participants is their own healing process. This can include self-monitoring of symptoms and emotional states, looking for correlations between certain foods and symptom, seeking alternative therapies and providers, and a host of other proactive actions. Asking questions of both your physician and yourself leads to a greater understanding of issues, treatments and options.
Many chronically ill people find themselves dominated by their disease. They make the illness the most important thing in their life and identify themselves with it (“I am a cancer patient”). When people learn that their illness is not who they are and is only a small part of their life, they can move beyond the illness and learn to express their own uniqueness. This shift is very empowering for many and can lead to growth in other areas of their life.
A final shift may occur in the relationship between the patient and the professional. Instead of viewing the professional as a technician providing information and treatment, patients may come to see the health provider as a healer who is on the healing journey with them. This can add a human dimension to the experience and gives the patient permission to be themselves instead of what they think they “should” be. A healer who cares for and about the patient adds a tremendously powerful input to the healing process.
These shifts in meaning can change an illness from a life-draining, painful, and resisted experience into an expansion of the person’s human potential. Even people dying from terminal disease can undergo transformation and healing. More information on this topic is available in the journal “Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine” March 2006, page 42 -48, “Meaning Shift: Findings from Wellness Acupuncture”.
Daniel Blodgett MD