Psychotherapy: Including the History of the Use of Mental Influence, Directly and Indirectly, in Healing and the Principles for the Application of Energies Derived from the Mind to the Treatment of DiseaseWalsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Science
Psychotherapy: Including the History of the Use of Mental Influence, Directly and Indirectly, in Healing and the Principles for the Application of Energies Derived from the Mind to the Treatment of Disease
Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Mental healing
Favorable Environment--After the removal of unfavorable suggestion and
the implanting of favorable suggestion, the next point must be the
persistent occupation of the patient's mind with thoughts favorable to
his condition. A nurse who is inclined to be pessimistic must be taken
out of the sick room, and there must be only cheerful faces and cheery
people around him. Hence the modern trained nurse, and especially the
picked nurse, who does not allow herself to be disturbed, who is not
fussy, who is not forcibly cheerful but quietly placid and confident
and cheery, means much for the patient's recovery. Relatives are
almost sure to exert strong unfavorable suggestions, though time was
when the devoted wife or mother might be depended upon to cover up all
her personal feelings and give the best possible service for the
mental uplift of the patient. When she can thus conceal her own
solicitude, a near relative may be the best possible auxiliary in
psychotherapeutics.
Natural Relief.--The fourth step in the application of
psychotherapeutics is that all the natural modes for the relief of
symptoms, the making of patients comfortable in body as well as in
mind, must be employed. In acute rheumatism, for instance, a number of
small pillows must be at the disposition of the patient so that his
limbs can be fixed in those positions in which there is the least
discomfort. Every physician should frequently read Hilton's classical
volume on "Rest and Pain" because of its unpretentious significance
for psychotherapy, as well as its enduring value in the treatment of
painful conditions. Just as soon as a patient finds that simple
procedures relieve his pain and add to his comfort, his fear of the
seriousness of his ailment is lessened, {189} and he begins to get
bettor. Cold water in fevers, cold fresh air in pneumonia, all the
natural modes of treating disease, thus become active factors in the
application of psychotherapy. When fevers were treated by the
administration of hot drinks the effect upon the patient's mind must
have been quite serious. Freedom to use cold water, just as one wants
it and whenever it is craved for, is of itself an excellent
suggestion.
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