Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Mind-Body Connection for Healing

A young man develops a serious gastrointestinal disorder and is repeatedly hospitalized to try and get the disorder under control. Over a period of 2 months his health is getting worse and all forms of pharmacological treatment are not working. He has, at the time, a recurring dream.

He dreams that he is at a social event and there is a large buffet table with beautiful food. He approaches the table and discovers that the meat on the table is decayed and rotting. He looks under the table and sees large masses of rotten meat.

Upon waking he decides to stop eating meat for a while. His symptoms abate over 2 weeks and he begins to feel better. He wonders if the meat (as indicated in his dream) is actually related to his failing health so he is tested for allergies. He discovers that he is in fact "allergic" to meat and if he stays off meat his health is much better. In fact, his drug therapy works only if he does not eat meat-if he eats meat then the drugs cannot control the illness.

The mind-body connection is clearly revealed in dream imagery and can be very helpful in providing useful information. There are numerous case studies and research studies that have shown that dream imagery is related to one's illness. More importantly, the imagery can help the dreamer find treatments and lifestyle changes that may improve health.

1 comment:

  1. Ciao a tutti
    purtroppo devo scrivere in italiano , ma in internet si può tradurre facilmente.
    Senz'altro capite meglio che se io scrivo in inglese.
    Io credo che il collegamento mente-corpo nei sogni sia così importante da poterci dare molte risposte : qual'è la malattia di cui soffriamo , cosa possiamo fare per stare meglio , la terapia che sto facendo mi fà stare meglio ?
    So che le anoressiche , che hanno grossi problemi con le emozioni e il cibo , sognano spesso dei frigoriferi.
    Io ho visto dai miei sogni che quando ho un rapporto "freddo" con qualcuno , sogno frigoriferi o ghiaccio.
    Mi piacerebbe sapere se anche per gli altri è così....

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