Chronic Illness Q&A with Dr. B.

Dr. Larry Berkelhammer

The purpose of this blog and the entire website is to provide evidence-based information on how to live with self-care mastery. It is for all medical patients, caregivers, and advocates who want to learn how to collaborate with physicians to optimize health. It is also for those living with a debilitating medical condition who want to learn about the power of the mind to effect physiological changes, including ideas and practices that allow the mind to be the catalyst for healing.

I post to this blog three times per week. Monday posts are relevant published articles. Wednesday posts are videos of webinars or interviews. Friday posts consist of questions about living better with chronic health challenges, and my answers to them.

Here is this week’s question:

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:  You’ve provided the evidence to support the cultivation of the qualities of connectivity, receptivity, curiosity and open-heartedness to increase the odds of improving health and wellbeing. But, please say more about how to go about developing those qualities.

ANSWER:   The cultivation of social connectivity, receptivity, curiosity and open-heartedness is strongly associated with improved health and wellbeing, but those things are almost impossible to develop without the support of others. This is because adoption of these new behaviors requires the courage to take emotional risks, such as confronting our fears of being embarrassed, shamed, ostracized, or worse.

Being in loving, trusting relationships of a variety of types provides the best opportunities to learn and practice new healthy behaviors—especially new healthy social behaviors such as authentic interpersonal communication.

Foundational to the cultivation of those qualities mentioned above is attentional training or mindfulness practice, which will be discussed further in the future.

This website is offered as a free public service, supplying information that has been found helpful to certain people living with chronic health challenges. No treatment is offered on this website. The advice is general, and may or may not apply to your individual situation, and is not a substitute for psychotherapy or medical treatment.

What questions do you have about how to live better with chronic health challenges that are related to the relationship between states of mind and health?

Just scroll down and type your question in the comment box below. I will post a reply to your comment, but your specific question may not appear in this column. When I get a certain number of related questions, I pick one that covers them all and I answer that one.