Do thoughts, especially negative thoughts, really cause illness in people? The answer to that is a resounding YES.
First, let’s talk about perception, that is, let’s talk about the phenomenon that enables the communication of our body and mind with the outside world. In the dictionaries of TDK, the explanation is made for perception: “Being conscious of something by directing attention to that thing, comprehension”. But does our perception show us the absolute reality? So every situation in the outside world is interpreted the same way for everyone? If we ask more clearly, are our perceptions real? Let’s think with examples. There is a common saying: “I believe what I see with my own eyes”. Seeing is the process of transmitting the rays coming from an object to the visual center of the brain by passing through the eye, which is the visual organ, into electrical signals through the optic nerves, and interpreting these signals in the visual center. Naturally, it is not possible to talk about a certain reality when interpretation is mentioned. A dog, an eagle, a spider see the same object differently from us, they perceive it differently. Likewise, we see the same object differently in bright light, with sunglasses and a microscope. Another phenomenon related to perception is that although the stimulus is the same, the feeling it evokes in us is not always the same. Think of the smell of a food you love, for example, imagine the smell of toast with lots of cheddar, sausage, fried bread and the delicious smell of butter on it. It makes your mouth water when hungry. Now think about how the same smell comes to you when you are sick, nauseous and vomiting. Is it disgusting? The smell is the same, the toast is the same, the taste is the same, but your perception has changed, the way they make you feel has changed, isn’t it?
So our perceptions are not immutable, they do not reflect the absolute reality. Moreover, perception is variable in this way for every living thing, every tissue, every cell.
Let us examine this phenomenon in terms of the functioning of cells, the small model of our body.
Our body has a wonderful mechanism to maintain its normal functions, to react to negative situations and return the body to its healthy state, and to avoid threats. For example, imagine that there is a wild animal that we come across while walking on the road. First, our sense organs come into play. We see with our eyes, smell with our nose, and hear the threatening voice of the animal with our ears. This information we receive is converted into electrical signals in our body and warns us about the presence of danger, that is, we perceive the danger. The body activates the necessary mechanisms to respond to this. For example, the secretion of hormones such as adrenaline is stimulated. Under the influence of these hormones, our heart rate accelerates, our blood pressure rises, and the blood shifts from the internal organs to the arms and legs. The goal is to give the flight-or-fight response. If we need to flee or fight, our heart must beat faster, our arms and legs must be stronger to run or fight, and more blood must be delivered to these areas. When the threat is gone, that is, the wild animal disappears, all these changed bodily functions return to normal. In short, we notice the threat in the outside world with our sense organs, interpret and perceive it through our nervous system, inform the organs related to substances that can be called intermediate messengers such as hormones that will enable us to react, and ensure that the organs that need to respond are prepared and put into action.
Our cells work with the same logic. The cell has sensory organs, sensing mechanisms, intermediate messengers and responding end organs, just like our bodies do. Suppose there is a substance outside the cell that will be useful to the cell. Even if the substance outside the cell is useful, it cannot directly pass through the cell membrane and enter the cell. In order for it to enter the cell, a channel specific to that substance must be placed on the surface of the cell membrane and information must be sent to the cell that the substance is useful, that is, the cell needs the sense organs. These sense organs are called “receptors”. Protrusions compatible with the relevant substance form on the surface of the cell membrane, bind to that substance, and transmit a message (useful, harmful or unnecessary) into the cell regarding the quality of this substance. The transmitted message is carried to the cell nucleus by intermediate messengers. Inside the cell nucleus are structures called DNA that carry our genes. Genes are like a set of construction plans, and DNA is like a library in which these plans are stored. According to the transmitted stimulus, the required gene is extracted from the library, namely DNA, and activated, and the protein written in this plan, that is, the gene, is produced. If we go back to our example, a useful substance was detected outside the cell, but because the cell membrane was not permeable, it could not be taken into the cell. The sensory organs, namely receptors, sent a message inside, the intermediate messengers conveyed this information to the nucleus, the necessary gene plan was extracted from the DNA library in the nucleus, and a protein suitable for this gene plan was produced. This protein produced was also placed on the cell membrane to form a channel through which the beneficial substance desired to be taken in through the cell membrane could pass. In summary, the message about the factor felt by the sense organs was conveyed, the intermediary messengers carried the news to the center, the necessary preparations were made and this desired effect was achieved. Just like in our body.
Now, guided by this information, let’s see how thoughts can make us sick.
Let’s first examine the variability of perception with an example. Think of two different people, Okan and Zeynep, close friends and they are walking on a tree-lined road on a spring day, chatting. At that moment, they see a dog running towards them from the opposite direction. Zeynep has been fond of dogs since her childhood, and until recently she had a dog that she took care of at home. Okan, on the other hand, has a fear of dogs that reaches the level of a phobia. He was knocked down by a dog at the age of 4-5 while playing alone on the street, albeit for play purposes. Since that day, he begins to tremble even at the thought of a dog. The purpose of the dog running towards them is to play, Zeynep feels this easily, her perceptions are clear. Okan, on the other hand, is not in a position to make a comment with his anxiety, he only feels the fear of the dog running towards him; She is undecided about running or not, has a pain and tightness in her stomach, and her heart beats more than 120 beats per minute. When the dog gets closer, Okan falls and faints with the effect of his fear and seriously injures his shoulder. He will not need to use his injured arm for the next 1 month, and moreover, he will have pain for days. When there was no real danger, no threat, and the dog’s only purpose was to play, Okan hurt himself and caused damage to his body because of the false messages his perceptions gave.
Let’s consider this phenomenon at the cellular level. First of all, it would be beneficial for me to share some additional information about the response mechanism of cells to external factors. Let me quote briefly from Bruce Lipton’s book “The Biology of Belief”: “Because receptors (i.e. cell receptors) can perceive energy fields, the idea that only physical molecules have an effect on cell physiology is outdated. Biological behavior can also be controlled by some invisible forces, including thought.” To put it more precisely, it is not necessary for a physical molecule to exist and directly bind to the receptor in order for the receptors, which are the sensory organs of cells, to activate and transmit signals. Thoughts can also activate the receptor as if there is a substance attached to it and cause a response response in the cell. To give a concrete example, you became ill and you were given a medicine for your illness. You started using the medicine and after a while your disease got better. But later on, it was said that the tablet you bought was not a real medicine, it was just a starch tablet. In other words, it’s not the medicine that heals you, it’s your positive thoughts that the medicine will cure you. This effect is called the “placebo effect” in medicine.
The effect of thoughts can be positive as well as negative. We are all born with a DNA structure, that is, a gene-plan library, which is transferred to us from our parents at birth and stored in the cell nucleus. Among these genes, there are genes that can cause diseases as well as genes that will give us our personal characteristics and different sides from others. But there is an interesting fact that having a gene associated with a disease in our DNA does not necessarily lead to the emergence of that disease. In other words, for this gene plan to be removed from the library and started to be used, there must be other factors that will cause this. Some of these external factors are clearly known, eg smoking, malnutrition. Another factor that is as effective as these external factors is stress and negative thoughts. Negative thoughts can also be perceived by the receptors as a danger entity and cause the cell to reveal the disease-containing gene from the gene-plan library and start using it in line with this plan, that is, the disease may start.
Our thoughts are so strong that they can start the disease that does not exist, as well as make the existing disease disappear, of course, much more effectively with medical support. And of course, it is important to replace the perception and, more importantly, subconscious negative thoughts with positive ones. At this point, methods such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and psychokinesiology are beneficial.
To summarize:
1. Our perceptions do not reflect the exact facts
2. The fact that we carry genes belonging to a disease does not mean that that disease is our absolute destiny
3. Our body has the knowledge of self-healing
4. Thoughts can make us sick as well as heal us
5. It is possible to correct our negative thought patterns and subconscious negative messages
