You Make Me Sick?
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” Henry Ford
If I may take a bit of license, I would say, “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you are right.” Ken Swaim
What we believe, and dwell on, matters. What we believe about our health matters to our quality of life.
A friend asked me the other day, “When you are around sick people, do you start to…” and before he could finish, I answered “No.”
Now you are correct, I should let people finish their statements before blurting out an answer. One of my pet peeves is when someone doesn’t let me finish a thought! But alas…
This question, however, was like a huge softball just hanging in the air waiting to be hit out of the park.
“Do I think about getting sick when I am around sick people? Do I start to imagine symptoms, even before they are present? Is that what you are asking?”
“Yes.”
“No I don’t.” The next obvious question for me to have asked my friend would have been, “Do you?” I don’t remember if I even asked, but I assumed that he does believe that being around sick people will ultimately make a person sick.
If you don’t believe that sickness and symptoms are inevitable when you are around people who are experiencing sickness and symptoms, then you can quit reading.
But if you do, please keep reading.
My friend's question got me thinking. How much do our beliefs affect our health? Are we really able to influence our level of health with our beliefs, or are we just victims of the environment?
Why do some people “catch” every infection that they become aware of, and others don’t? If coming into contact with a novel virus or bacteria produces disease, shouldn’t everyone that comes into contact with it theoretically get sick? The answer is theoretically, yes. But reality is different. Reality suggests some people succumb and some don’t. Reality has too many exceptions to discount this fact. This reality is consistent regardless of “what is going around”. Some get it and some don’t.
What do you believe about health and sickness? And what role does your belief play in your life?
I want to introduce, or reintroduce, you to a concept in psychology known as confirmation bias. In a nutshell, confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one's existing beliefs while ignoring or dismissing contradictory evidence. This confirmation bias can lead to flawed decision-making and reinforce personal beliefs even in the face of opposing information. (Thanks internet)
If you believe in UFO’s, your mind will automatically start to look for evidence that they are real and things that you see in the night sky may take on new meaning.
If you don’t believe in UFO’s, then your mind will search for reasons to discount strange astral occurrences. (And for the record, I have no belief one way or the other about UFO’s! It just seemed like an easy example of confirmation bias in action.)
A more human example is running a mile in under four minutes. Up until Roger Bannister did it in 1954, it was thought to be physically impossible. Bannister, after getting fourth in the 1500 meter run (essentially a metric mile) in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, dedicated his training, in addition to being a medical student in Britain, to breaking the unbreakable four minute barrier.
Here is the remarkable part. A year later another man did it too and 2.5 years later 10 had done so. To date, some 2000 men have done it.
What changed? The belief that it was possible! Our minds go to work to show us, to reinforce it with evidence, that this belief is true. Runners needed to believe they could do it and Bannister showed that it was possible.
One step closer to home.
Let’s say you have been feeling pretty good, all is well and life is moving on nicely. Then someone in your household succumbs to a virus or bacteria. If you believe that being around sick people means that you will also get sick, your confirmation bias will begin to look for clues that you are developing symptoms.
Our reality will necessarily become congruent with our beliefs. And so a scratchy throat will be interpreted as you are getting sick.
What we read into situations, looking for things that make sense based on our beliefs, can damage or empower our health.
Am I saying that I never get sick? Nope. But I can assure you that having studied the human machine and immune system for a while, I firmly believe that others cannot make me sick. Only me neglecting my health can make me sick. I am responsible for my health and avoiding sick people does not factor in. Sleep, diet, exercise, etc… does factor in. Am I doing my part? When I don’t, my health lets me know for sure.
Maybe Henry Ford's dictum could read, “If you think you’ll get sick or think you won’t, you are right.”
Upgrade your beliefs. Your health depends on it.
Keep it simple.
Cheers,
ks
