Love, of course, isn’t the only good feeling that will increase endorphins. Let me tell you about a study conducted at the University of Tennessee a few years ago. The endorphin levels in the spinal fluid of 32 chronic-pain sufferers were measured; then the participants were given a placebo.
Placebos aren’t medicine; they’re “sugar pills.” Surprisingly, they work just like real medicine for about one third of patients who suffer from chronic pain. In this study, the 14 patients who responded to the placebo were retested: their endorphin levels had increased!
It wasn’t the placebo that made their endorphin levels rise; it was their belief. They thought the placebo was real medicine, so they believed it would relieve their pain. They felt so good about it that their bodies started producing extra endorphins, which blocked the pain. From belief to relief: it’s a magical, but very real, process you can learn to use yourself.
Unfortunately, most of us mass-produce unhappy, unhealthy messages, flooding our bodies with chemical doomsayers. The tens of millions of Americans who are unhappy, depressed, angry, bitter, frustrated, feel inadequate, unloved, helpless and hopeless turn negative feelings into negative hormones into disease. That’s the other side of the coin, the one we want to avoid.
Where Do Our Thoughts Come From?
“I’d like to think nice thoughts and have lots of endorphins, Dr. Fox,” some of my patients say, “but everyone keeps making me mad. It’s not my fault. It’s my boss, my kids, the traffic, the economy. It’s all those things that make me mad.”
We’ve been taught that our thoughts come from outside of us: someone or something imposes them on us. For example, we say: “He makes me so mad!” as if “I” have nothing to do with it; “I” am an innocent bystander.
“He” doesn’t make you angry, calm, happy, or sad. “He” does nothing but provide a stimulus, some data for your brain. You make yourself angry, or calm, or happy, or sad by reacting to the stimulus.
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