The Power of Persuasion
This is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. I don't really know why, or maybe I do and don't care to share..but either way...
All of have heard this phrase, "The Power of Persuasion..." in some form or another. I try to be careful when it comes to assumptions, but this is one I'll climb out on the limb for. So, we've all heard this phrase, but I don't know if we've all thought about it...here are my thoughts.
This isn't based much on persuasion from outside sources or people (peer pressure), but more on the power you have over yourself.
One of the most obvious proofs of this occurrence is the "self-fulfilled prophecy". The number one example happens in offices and on jobsites through out the world. Ted comes in on Wednesday with a little sniffle and claims he thinks he's coming down with something, on Thursday he knows he's getting the flu, and on Friday he calls in sick. I'm not saying that Ted didn't have a little bug in his system, but what I'm asking is if he hadn't told everyone that he was coming down with something, would he have come down with something? Man, that's a long sentence with bad grammar!
I do not think that you can talk your self into actually contracting the flu, but that you can talk yourself into having the symptoms. Let's take the bird flu for example. This is a very scary thing that seems to have an inevitable path to the United States. Let's hope not, but it is a very real possibility. Right now there haven't been any cases of the bird flu reported, so let's get Ted back in the picture. Let's say Ted is just a very negative person and he thinks that he's just going to definitely be the first one with the bird flu. So he starts feeling the symptoms coming on...I didn't even know what the bird flu symptoms were so I had to look them up here http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/270104avianflu.html
it seems that many of them are the same as any other type of cold or flu, so this makes it really easy for Ted to believe he has the bird flu even if he only has a common cold.
Now let me just make this clear...Ted (or you) cannot make yourself have the bird flu. You can say it all you want, but this is a virus and you cannot make your body produce this virus. What you can do is make your body feel the symptoms of this virus. Then what you do is start over thinking everything, and soon you think you have pneumonia and will die soon...Persuasion.
I don't know that this is exactly what happens, hell I'm just an uneducated, alcoholic from a small town in North Texas...but I do have opinions and sometimes I like to read myself type.
So here is my question...I don't believe that you can talk your body into having a virus, but I do believe that you can talk your body into believing it does and therefore the symptoms occur...so, can you talk your body into fighting something that is not present in your body? Will your body, by persuasion, form anti-bodies to fight an enemy in your body that is not present? How powerful is your persuasion?
I'm no doctor, I've never played one on TV, and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I'm not claiming that my remarks neither past nor present are factual.
So here are more of my thoughts on this subject. You cannot argue that bad things in your body cause bad things to happen. If there is a harmful bacteria in your body, then your body will react to it, but wouldn't you think the way you react to these feelings would affect the way the sickness affects you? If Teddy boy starts to feel the blahs coming on, couldn't he say, "I've got something going on, but it will not get me down!" Would this lessen his symptoms and the terms of his sickness? Certainly you've said or heard someone say, "I'm too busy to be sick right now" and then they just keep working. Of course, I'm not saying that this is always best. I know of a few times where I was too busy to be sick, but when the work got done...so was I. Down and out for the long count.
I'm confusing myself now...let me switch to another thought that all of us can relate to (whether you want to admit it or not). Hmmm...its probably time for another disclaimer. I have never and probably will never be politically correct. Don't really care to be. So the next few paragraphs may not suit you much.
So one of the most obvious examples of the mind and the body clashing happens behind the closed restroom door. Ha ha, this is going to be fun. How many times have you been driving down the road, or walking through a department store or grocery store aisle when you heard and felt the rumble of the gut.
"Oh Shit!"
What are you going to do? This is especially more of a problem when you're in the car (or at the parents house of the girl that you have just started dating and you're meeting them for the first time...that's embarassing) and you start looking around for big trees or super clean restrooms. They're not out there. You try to talk your body into holding out for just a little longer. Then you feel the pressure subside a bit...your mind has won this round, and if you're lucky its bought you enough time to get home.
There it is again...this time it feels more like a big foot pressing down on your abdomen.
"Stay together cheeks!"
Round two is a little more difficult. There is still the chance that you can talk your body into clamping down for a bit longer, but its not a given...its touch and go at this point. Let's say for the sake of your pride that you win round two. Please let us get home!
"Uh oh!"
There isn't going to be a round four...this is a high-pressure situation and action has to be taken soon. You're trying to talk directly to the last line of defense here..."Clamp Up!!! Clamp Up!!!"
It's amazing how your opinion of public restrooms is tied so directly to the urgency of your situation.
Once again, for the sake of dexterity...let's say you make it home. Once there you take the proper steps to alleviate the problem, and all is well. You've never felt better.
The moral?
The mind can work at great lengths to battle what the body throws at it. The attitude that one takes to those situations greatly affects the outcome of the situation. Never have you heard someone feel the rumble in the bowels and say, "Well, I think I'm going to go ahead and shit my pants!" No, he holds out as long as he can. (There are a few out there that couldn't hold on long enough), so why wouldn't we all take the same stand against sickness. Why not say, "I feel something coming on, but I'm not going to let it take me down!" next time you get a little sniffle. In the end, the body (or the material things inside it that are tearing it down) is going to get some sort of victory. But with the correct thoughts, you could make sure that the victory is a small one.
The attitude you take in life is always going to affect your life's outcome. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but this last week and the week to come have been and will be pretty trying. I could have laid down and cried about all this, but that wouldn't have done any good. I did have to change a few things, as to my normal activities, but I've always made it through the trials in the past...and my attitude is that I'll make it through these too.
On the same line I'll answer the very ugly e-mail pertaining to the title of my blog. It basically said that I was a cruel person for claiming I was lucky to have something that many people suffer through for real. That no one with bipolar disorder would ever consider themselves lucky.
I answer you in public brother!!! I think there are many people who don't see their "disorder" as the worst thing that can happen to a person. Their attitude towards their situation dictates their being. Second of all, I'm a very creative person. Sometimes after days of no sleep, I come up with some of my best material. Sometimes, when I feel so low that I'll no longer make it, I write the most upbeat song on the album. Sometimes, when I feel so high that I am actually skipping through the house, I write the prettiest ballad you've ever heard. Have you ever researched the lives of the most famous people? Have you ever seen how the geniuses out there were completely fucked up? There is a very thin line between genius and insanity!
How can I feel Lucky? If I were normal, I'd just be normal! Maybe I am normal, and you are just less than normal! By the way, check this out
http://www.mental-health-today.com/bp/famous_people.htm
All of have heard this phrase, "The Power of Persuasion..." in some form or another. I try to be careful when it comes to assumptions, but this is one I'll climb out on the limb for. So, we've all heard this phrase, but I don't know if we've all thought about it...here are my thoughts.
This isn't based much on persuasion from outside sources or people (peer pressure), but more on the power you have over yourself.
One of the most obvious proofs of this occurrence is the "self-fulfilled prophecy". The number one example happens in offices and on jobsites through out the world. Ted comes in on Wednesday with a little sniffle and claims he thinks he's coming down with something, on Thursday he knows he's getting the flu, and on Friday he calls in sick. I'm not saying that Ted didn't have a little bug in his system, but what I'm asking is if he hadn't told everyone that he was coming down with something, would he have come down with something? Man, that's a long sentence with bad grammar!
I do not think that you can talk your self into actually contracting the flu, but that you can talk yourself into having the symptoms. Let's take the bird flu for example. This is a very scary thing that seems to have an inevitable path to the United States. Let's hope not, but it is a very real possibility. Right now there haven't been any cases of the bird flu reported, so let's get Ted back in the picture. Let's say Ted is just a very negative person and he thinks that he's just going to definitely be the first one with the bird flu. So he starts feeling the symptoms coming on...I didn't even know what the bird flu symptoms were so I had to look them up here http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/270104avianflu.html
it seems that many of them are the same as any other type of cold or flu, so this makes it really easy for Ted to believe he has the bird flu even if he only has a common cold.
Now let me just make this clear...Ted (or you) cannot make yourself have the bird flu. You can say it all you want, but this is a virus and you cannot make your body produce this virus. What you can do is make your body feel the symptoms of this virus. Then what you do is start over thinking everything, and soon you think you have pneumonia and will die soon...Persuasion.
I don't know that this is exactly what happens, hell I'm just an uneducated, alcoholic from a small town in North Texas...but I do have opinions and sometimes I like to read myself type.
So here is my question...I don't believe that you can talk your body into having a virus, but I do believe that you can talk your body into believing it does and therefore the symptoms occur...so, can you talk your body into fighting something that is not present in your body? Will your body, by persuasion, form anti-bodies to fight an enemy in your body that is not present? How powerful is your persuasion?
I'm no doctor, I've never played one on TV, and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I'm not claiming that my remarks neither past nor present are factual.
So here are more of my thoughts on this subject. You cannot argue that bad things in your body cause bad things to happen. If there is a harmful bacteria in your body, then your body will react to it, but wouldn't you think the way you react to these feelings would affect the way the sickness affects you? If Teddy boy starts to feel the blahs coming on, couldn't he say, "I've got something going on, but it will not get me down!" Would this lessen his symptoms and the terms of his sickness? Certainly you've said or heard someone say, "I'm too busy to be sick right now" and then they just keep working. Of course, I'm not saying that this is always best. I know of a few times where I was too busy to be sick, but when the work got done...so was I. Down and out for the long count.
I'm confusing myself now...let me switch to another thought that all of us can relate to (whether you want to admit it or not). Hmmm...its probably time for another disclaimer. I have never and probably will never be politically correct. Don't really care to be. So the next few paragraphs may not suit you much.
So one of the most obvious examples of the mind and the body clashing happens behind the closed restroom door. Ha ha, this is going to be fun. How many times have you been driving down the road, or walking through a department store or grocery store aisle when you heard and felt the rumble of the gut.
"Oh Shit!"
What are you going to do? This is especially more of a problem when you're in the car (or at the parents house of the girl that you have just started dating and you're meeting them for the first time...that's embarassing) and you start looking around for big trees or super clean restrooms. They're not out there. You try to talk your body into holding out for just a little longer. Then you feel the pressure subside a bit...your mind has won this round, and if you're lucky its bought you enough time to get home.
There it is again...this time it feels more like a big foot pressing down on your abdomen.
"Stay together cheeks!"
Round two is a little more difficult. There is still the chance that you can talk your body into clamping down for a bit longer, but its not a given...its touch and go at this point. Let's say for the sake of your pride that you win round two. Please let us get home!
"Uh oh!"
There isn't going to be a round four...this is a high-pressure situation and action has to be taken soon. You're trying to talk directly to the last line of defense here..."Clamp Up!!! Clamp Up!!!"
It's amazing how your opinion of public restrooms is tied so directly to the urgency of your situation.
Once again, for the sake of dexterity...let's say you make it home. Once there you take the proper steps to alleviate the problem, and all is well. You've never felt better.
The moral?
The mind can work at great lengths to battle what the body throws at it. The attitude that one takes to those situations greatly affects the outcome of the situation. Never have you heard someone feel the rumble in the bowels and say, "Well, I think I'm going to go ahead and shit my pants!" No, he holds out as long as he can. (There are a few out there that couldn't hold on long enough), so why wouldn't we all take the same stand against sickness. Why not say, "I feel something coming on, but I'm not going to let it take me down!" next time you get a little sniffle. In the end, the body (or the material things inside it that are tearing it down) is going to get some sort of victory. But with the correct thoughts, you could make sure that the victory is a small one.
The attitude you take in life is always going to affect your life's outcome. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but this last week and the week to come have been and will be pretty trying. I could have laid down and cried about all this, but that wouldn't have done any good. I did have to change a few things, as to my normal activities, but I've always made it through the trials in the past...and my attitude is that I'll make it through these too.
On the same line I'll answer the very ugly e-mail pertaining to the title of my blog. It basically said that I was a cruel person for claiming I was lucky to have something that many people suffer through for real. That no one with bipolar disorder would ever consider themselves lucky.
I answer you in public brother!!! I think there are many people who don't see their "disorder" as the worst thing that can happen to a person. Their attitude towards their situation dictates their being. Second of all, I'm a very creative person. Sometimes after days of no sleep, I come up with some of my best material. Sometimes, when I feel so low that I'll no longer make it, I write the most upbeat song on the album. Sometimes, when I feel so high that I am actually skipping through the house, I write the prettiest ballad you've ever heard. Have you ever researched the lives of the most famous people? Have you ever seen how the geniuses out there were completely fucked up? There is a very thin line between genius and insanity!
How can I feel Lucky? If I were normal, I'd just be normal! Maybe I am normal, and you are just less than normal! By the way, check this out
http://www.mental-health-today.com/bp/famous_people.htm
posted by Michael Wren at 11:51 AM
2 Comments:
So true - our mind is so powerful. When you consider the natural order of things, it all makes sense. Your Spirit controls your mind and your Mind controls your Body.
Dr. Bernie Siegel researched the power of belief in people with Multiple Personality Disorders and discovered that even diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure can manifest and leave depending upon the personality that they are displaying.
The mind is such a powerful tool.
In many ways bipolar disorder is as much a gift as a burden. Or at least the way it affects me...
Like your blog!
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