Part 22 · Nearer Than Breathing · points 24–27 of 31 in this Part
Mental therapeutics
Physicians treat nervous disease as bodily. The patient's own mental state is half the case.
4 numbered points · 2 study questions · 2 min read
Physicians treat nervous disease as bodily. The patient's own mental state is half the case.
Study questions for this sublevel
Haanel put a review question at the end of every part. Answer out loud first — the recall is what moves it into memory.
218. What is the result of this system of thought?
For the first time in the world’s history every man’s highest reasoning faculty can be satisfied by a demonstrable truth which is now fast flooding the world.
219. Is this system applicable to other forms of supply?
It will meet every human requirement or necessity.
Haanel's own words — points 24–27
Quoted exactly from The Master Key System (1912, public domain). The translation above is ours; this is his.
This influence or control over the body by the mind is coming to be more and more generally understood, and many physicians are now giving the matter their earnest attention. Dr. Albert T. Shofield, who has written several important books on the subject, says “The subject of mental therapeutics is still ignored in medical works generally. In our physiologies no references is made to the central controlling power that rules the body for its good, and the power of the mind over the body is seldom spoken of”.
No doubt many physicians treat nervous diseases of functional origin wisely and well, but what we contend is that the knowledge they display was taught at no school, was learned from no book, but it is intuitive and empirical.
This is not as it should be. The power of mental therapeutics should be the subject of careful, special and scientific teaching in every medical school. We might pursue the subject of maltreatment, or want of treatment, further in detail and describe the disastrous results of neglected cases; but the task is an invidious one.
There can be no doubt that few patients are aware of how much they can do for themselves. What the patient can do for himself, the forces he can set in motion are as yet unknown. We are inclined to believe that they are far greater than most imagine, and will undoubtedly be used more and more. Mental therapeutics may be directed by the patient himself toward calming the mind in excitement, by arousing feelings of joy, hope, faith, and love; by suggesting motives for exertion, by regular mental work, by diverting the thoughts from the malady.
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