Editorial March 5, 1984 Issue

Ultimate trend: finding the "great Physician"

ALLISON W. PHINNEY, JR. with contributions from Bernard S. Siegel, Norman Cousins

"The incurable can be cured. The potential incurable diseases have dwindled down to practically nothing, because everywhere I speak, someone with an incurable disease comes up and tells me they just got over it. ... Your body will fight for its life if you feel loved. You can also literally keep people alive by loving them. But you have to start with self-love. When you learn to love yourself, then you can give it to others."^{ "Love Heals," Cape God Times, January 16, 1983, p. 8 .}

Dr. Bernard S. Siegel, Assistant Professor
of Surgery,
Yale University School of Medicine

"For the past three years I have been studying some 40 patients who have recovered from supposedly irreversible illnesses. These cases include malignancies, cardiac infirmities, and diseases of joints and muscles. ... they all decided they were not going to rely exclusively on treatment provided by others and that they were going to take an active part in the quest for their own recovery. In short, they all recognized they had to take a strong measure of responsibility for what would happen to them."^{ "Maximizing the Possible," Saturday Review, May 1982, p. 12 .}