Well this is an interesting topic!!
I had a friend send me an advertisement for a new phone app -> one that can improve or even rid one of ailments ranging from mental illness to physical pain.
I do not plan on revealing the name as it is not my place to completely drivel on about my personal opinion and harm a company. That is not the plan.
I do, surprisingly, have to absolutely commend them on their marketing strategies and their use of medical language. It is absolutely genius what this app has come out with.
For example, I want to discuss the topic of pain.
We have pain receptors, nerve endings, and various ways in which we seem to FEEL pain, but pain is 100% processed in the mind. If your processor does not work properly, malfunctions can occur, like feeling pain where there is no cause, for example.
In addition, the mind has a coping strategy built in, in regards to pain. Only the most recent and/or most intense pain can be pinpointed at one time. So, like in an episode of House, where his leg is causing absolute agony, he voluntarily smashes his hand in order to relieve the pain in his leg, if only for a few moments. A break. A small reprieve from his own personal hell.
Now, in an individual with chronic pain, the brain adapts. It, essentially, rewires itself to process pain from multiple areas at once. Feeling pain is necessary for survival, so if one area is in pain for an extended period of time, the brain must learn how to rewire and process other areas that feel pain, otherwise we could be in danger.
So, this app has capitalized on this idea, which is scientifically verifiable. If the brain can rewire itself in this manner, why can't this action be reversed??
I was explained once by a dear friend and psychologist that, if you suffer from night terrors, hallucinations, and horrible nightmares that made you want to never sleep (like those I have been known to suffer from), that those dreams and hallucinations continue because the brain becomes wired to do so. That if you, for example, have nightmares where you are mauled to death by a wild cat, then if you happen to see a cat during the day, or see someone wearing leopard print shoes, your brain may immediately take that information and light up that pathway. BUT - the good news is that you CAN reverse this. There is a moment in each of our dreams where we KNOW we are dreaming, and we can actually take control of the narrative. It takes time and practice and a whole hell of a lot of will power, but it is possible.
Some of what I have explained is similar to what is referenced in a type of treatment called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
The aforementioned app takes you through all of the techniques used by therapists of this sort, along with positive affirmations, optimism, and a 'mind-over-matter' attitude.
While this can surely help certain ailments, the ability to rewire the brain to completely ignore pain signals from ACTUAL, REAL, sources of pain is a little far-fetched for my taste.
It is one thing to distract the mind (with excitement, adrenaline, mindfulness, activity, etc...) and COMPLETELY another to claim that the pain will disappear long-term.
When I am distracted enough - by games, activity, conversation, any stimulation really - it is possible for my pain to seem lessened; for my pain to be nearly forgotten. The SOURCE of the pain, however, is something that will not simply disappear because of mindfulness.
Although I completely commend the marketing strategies and whoever wrote their explanations, believing that an app on my phone can somehow reverse the erosion in my SI joints, or the chronic inflammation in my intestines, or my susceptibility to crippling migraines, is....
Bonkers.
Mindfulness, positive thinking, behavioural-cognitive-therapy, meditation, and several other mindful activities are always beneficial. Unfortunately though, 'incurable' means that we have not yet discovered the cure in, sometimes, thousands of years. So an app is likely not it.
Also - in another brilliant move taken by the creator - if you read the fine print, they clearly state that their product will not completely alleviate disease, but the TITLE of the product is misleading.
(As an extra 'for instance', food products can have a brand that has the word "organic" in it without the product being at all organic....)
Just some food for thought.
#Strength