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WRITTEN BY CAITLIN MELLOR
Is it possible to overcome illness with the power of our minds? Can we really improve our health just with thought? These are questions which scientists have been testing for many years.
(Fig 1.) Meditation and mindfulness practise can help attenuate chronic pain https://www.self.com/story/time-to-start-meditating
At the heart of motivation and desire, our brains can affect our emotions, behaviours, moods and needs – both positively and negatively. Since the start of the mental hygiene movement in 1908, it has been widely accepted that our brains play a significant role in our mental and physical health.
Whilst our mental health can be negatively affected by our brain, the idea that we can also control our brains to positively affect our health is an exciting prospect in modern medicine.
In clinical environments, pain is often regulated with drugs such as Paracetamol and Morphine. These drugs offer fast pain relief from headaches to major injuries. These drugs are important staples of medicine although for some, a more natural approach to healthcare is desirable.
For years, people have studied the art of meditation. Practising breathwork and inner calmness and a sense of being alone with your body. Whilst we cannot just ‘think’ away disease, there is significant evidence which suggests our brains may be capable of attenuating our pain responses.
There have been several studies which show breathing techniques can actually help to reduce pain. How this is measured is a very challenging however – how can we measure pain if everyone experiences it differently? Well, the truth is we can’t!
If you’ve ever visited hospital with an injury, one of the first questions is ‘What is the pain on a scale of 1 to 10?’. Someone with a low pain threshold will answer with a higher value than someone with a higher pain threshold. Now, instead of requiring Paracetamol to ease the pain, imagine being able to meditate and ‘think’ away the pain.
Pain is a physical construct of our nerves and brain, working together to minimise injury. If we put our hand over a candle, our arm pulls away when it gets hot as our brain tries to prevent injury. What if we could remove this signalling and control the circuit of subconscious pain thoughts?
Exploring further, what if we could take an ability to control subconscious signalling and use it to treat other aspects of illness? These are all questions which require significantly more research although are interesting starting points for the creation of future ‘mindset medication’.
Where to find out more:
- Meditation for pain relief – https://www.healthline.com/health/meditation-for-chronic-pain#takeaway
- Does meditation for pain really work? – https://www.headspace.com/meditation/pain
- Meditation for chronic pain – https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/04/treating-chronic-pain-with-meditation/284182/