Have you ever used a mind power technique (biofeedback, yoga, etc.) that seemed to help?

What are your thoughts on how much (or how little) mind power (biofeedback, relaxation training, yoga, "positive thinking," etc.) can be used to improve disease situation (including cancer) for the better?

Claims about the power of the mind to control or influence disease have in the past been often exaggerated, of course, with more enthusiasm than data supporting them.

Stress reduction through the use of certain mental techniques (see survey above) has according to some studies actually been associated with some improvement in disease situation, but hard data on the subject is hard to come by. "Feeling better" is good, but what measurable impact is actually being made on the disease?

So what do you think? Do directed mental activities such as biofeedback, listening to relaxation tapes, etc. make that much of a difference in improving or even controlling disease, or not?

Faith played and continues playing a major role in my story. I understand the skepticism regarding such claims.

At the end of March 2013, I had a physical where my blood pressure was 150 over 98. After my dx, I had my blood pressure taken several times in what should've been very stressful circumstances. The day before I boarded the plane to go to Mayo, I had it checked on a last second 2nd opinion visit at UT Southwestern. It was 116 over 91. The last blood pressure check prior to surgery at Mayo was 103 over 60. My BP dropped to 103 over 60 in one week after 116 over 91. Looking at the drop from 5 months prior it's pretty amazing.

I'm a very amped up wound tight type of individual. Those BP numbers reflect the calm and peace only brought through faith. No other explanation for it. Just a total calm for a guy who rarely finds it during any time much less right before one of the biggest days of his life.

Every day, but y'all all knew that. Oh ,It not only helps,It Is!

Mindfulness. Easy to learn and practice. Works great for anxiety and depression.

- Allen

No. I don't believe in stuff like that for myself. If it works for you, or others, then I think its a good thing. I am not good at trying to fake out my brain with diversions. I can handle the worse type of reality better in its raw form. Easier for me to deal with things.

David

The Lieutenant (81GyGuy)
Excellent thread. I forget what personality type I am or maybe I failed the test-lol. I don't know what to call it but I started my regimen in 1968 when faced with stressful catastrophes. If I wasn't sleeping under my bodyguard (the Nancy quad .50) at some fire base or strong point, in my orderly room I would close my eyes and thing of my wife, children, and good memories that made me smile; It was an extreme form of avoidance to a situation that I could barely handle emotionally.
Prior to going to sleep at night I would try to listen to some of Joan Baez's songs on audio tape. I love that woman and can just sense the hormones oozing with her beautiful voice. I have all her songs on cds and listen to them frequently. I still close my eyes at night and do what I did in VN but wake up hours later sitting on the couch; it works for me and I realize that I am avoiding reality.

I was driving with my grandson whom we raised and he confided in me that "I was the most stubborn man he has ever known"....this was 4 hours ago and I guess it was a compliment..Oh well.
Bill

Captain -

Yes, indeed, if there was ever a supreme test for one's coping strategies, it was serving a tour in Vietnam! The stresses that occurred daily there were the ultimate challenges to keeping one's head on straight!

Looking back now, I do indeed remember some of the coping strategies that the men around me, both superiors and subordinates, used to channel the enormous stress that each of them was under. Some of them were truly unique and a testament to the creativity of people when faced with incredible stress, and then finding successful ways of dealing with it.

I remember a 1LT platoon leader from our sister company, who, when he had arrived in country, never set his watch to local Vietnam time! He was from outside Chicago, and his watch was set to Chicago time for his entire tour! When I asked him why he was doing this, he said that whenever he was getting particularly stressed out, he would look at his watch and see what time it was in Chicago, and then close his eyes, and imagine what was going on there at that time of day, whether night or day there, and he said that would make him feel like he was there.

Then there was our S-3, a major who had brought his fishing rod along with him (collapsible, packed as personal gear, he really loved fishing), and he would from time to time go out behind the quonset building that served as the S-3 HQ, and practice fly casting at a pile of empty C-ration cans or something. He said it was great for getting the stress out!

Then there were SPC4 Spezza and SPC4 Lane in my company, who together made one of the oddest couples you could ever imagine. Spezza was a talker, could never be quiet, always chat, chat, chat. Lane was exactly the opposite, never said a word, just smiled at people. But when these two got together, Spezza would talk Lane's ear off about anything and everything, while Lane would just smile, nod and listen, never saying a word. But it was obvious that this pattern was a great stress reliever for both of them: Spezza talked himself into being calm, and Lane got calmed down listening to Spezza chatter.

And what did I do to deal with the stress, of command and of everything else? For me it was getting back to my hootch at night after a long day, possibly even after being out in the boonies commanding my signal relays on my deuce-and-a-half's, hitting the sack, and thinking just as hard as I could about pleasant things back home: things like Christmas or Thanksgiving with parents and relatives, going to football games and dances with old girl friends, sitting in my parents' living room with a bowl of popcorn watching TV. But what I did to make it work was I forced my brain to make these night time fantasies to be as detailed and as real as possible, by building a scene in my mind in which every single detail was as real as I could make it. This worked for me, and was a big help in escaping the frequent unpleasantness of the days I had to encounter.

It is said that the mind protects itself unconsciously from unbearable situations by creating fantasies, sometimes so real that they almost seem to be reality. I guess that's what a lot of us did in Nam, except we did it consciously.

As was discussed in a recent thread, we were all "choosing how we reacted to a stressful situation," selecting our best coping strategies.