Alternative Health Care

4. Medicine and the Spirit

4 Medicine and the Spirit Most of the core assumptions of alternative medicine differ from those ofconventional biomedicine by degree and emphasis . Almost all physicians would grant that the mind and body are inseparably linked, and that being healthy is more than merely the absence of symptoms. Alternative and mainstream approaches differ over the extent of these relationships and their relevance to clinical decisions and outcomes. But spirituality , a vital component ofmost alternative techniques and the overall alternative perspective, is different. The centrality ofspirituality to the alternative perspective elicits discomfort, if not hostility, from many conventional practitioners and health care institutions. For some conventional providers, the recognition and acceptance of a spiritual dimension to life, illness, and healing seems to be an affront to the basic premises ofscientific medicine. Alternative medicine largely accepts the conventional "scientific " descriptions of the biological processes and mechanisms that are associated with the onset of disease, or its remission . But alternative medicine also asks, What conditions must be present for the pathology to overpower the body, and what conditions must be present for healing to occur? The answer often includes spiritual along with physical, mental, and/or emotional factors. Today, almost all well-known advocates of alternative medicine stress the importance ofspirituality in health and healing. This includes those whose practices have emerged directly from traditional forms of healing, such as Deepak Chopra, as well as those like Larry Dossey, Bernie Siegel, Dean Ornish, and Andrew Weil who identify themselves 74 Copyrighted Material Medicine and the Spirit 75 much more with a scientific point of view grounded in Western rationality. The prominent role of spiritual or religious beliefs in the histories of almost every major alternative approach is difficult to deny. All of Ayurvedic medicine derives directly from the Vedic tradition in Hinduism, while TCM and the subdisciplines within it, such as acupuncture, are based upon traditional Chinese Taoism. In each of these traditions illness is viewed as a reflection ofa life lived in conflict with ultimate principles that, in turn, derive from universal divine law. In some other major alternative perspectives, such as chiropractic and homeopathy, contemporary practitioners sometimes downplay the original spiritual roots ofthe enterprise. However, their influence continues to be felt. It is striking to what extent the views ofD. D. Palmer and other early advocates of chiropractic are almost identical to those ofAyurveda and TCM. Palmer writes: "Chiropractors envisioned man as a microcosm ofthe universe, with the Innate Intelligence that determined human health to be a manifestation of a larger Universal Intelligence that governed the cosmos." Palmer frequently stated that manipulations of chiropractors that unblocked these powerful forces in the body was a "fundamentally religious concern." Observers ofcurrent chiropractic practice have noted its appeal to those with a spiritual worldview. Homeopathy has similar roots. Its founder, Samuel Hahnemann, believed homeopathy "had unveiled the secret whereby humanity might bring physical events under the action of a 'higher law.'" Today homeopathy offers a vitalistic worldview which encourages a belief that homeopathic remedies act "spiritually" on the material world of the body. Herbal remedies, fasting, and the varied forms ofmeditation and hypnosis are all examples of widely used alternative techniques that have explicit religious or spiritual origins. While some practitioners may minimize these spiritual roots, the broader field of alternative medicine actively asserts them. Increasingly there is a recognition that this spiritual dimension is Copyrighted Material 76 Chapter Four one of alternative medicine's strengths. Unambiguously religious actions, such as prayer for oneself and for others, is increasingly accepted as an alternative healing technique. Conventional medicine has frequently found it difficult to integrate the role ofconsciousness, autonomy, and self-control in determining health and illness. The addition of a spiritual dimension implies the inclusion ofideas that are even more remote from the medical mainstream. This includes ideas about the meaning or purpose of life, god, intuition, prayer, collective symbols, myths, and shared responsibility for things like empathy and sacrifice. The equation ofhealth with virtue, and disease with sin, must be reckoned with again. At the most fundamental level, the incorporation of spirituality into an understanding of health and illness requires confronting basic assumptions about the nature of reality. Is the "real world" limited to the natural world, or is there a supernatural world to contend with as well? If the latter exists, what is the role of rationality in understanding or controlling the world? If there is a supernatural world, it is...