Religion and Medicine; The Moral Control of Nervous Disorders (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III SUGGESTION The most important fact which has yet been discovered in regard to the subconscious mind is that it is suggestible, i.e., it is subject to moral influence and direction. In this it does not differ from our ordinary consciousness, except that under certain conditions it is more amenable to external control, and it is in closer contact with our physical functions. All human beings are influenced by their affections and by their relations with others, but some much more than others. There are positive dominating personalities whose mission in life seems to be to influence others, and there are receptive, passive natures which readily yield themselves to such influence. So, in the subconscious realm, some persons are far more suggestible than others. At the outset of this discussion I should like to remove from the mind of the reader, if it is necessary, the idea that there is anything morbid or uncanny in suggestion. On the contrary it is something which consciously or unconsciously we practise every day of our lives. A little girl falls down and hurts herself. Mother kisses the spot and "makes it well." We control our children, if we are wise, not by harshly rebuking their innocent naughtiness, but by diverting their minds, i.e., suggesting something better. Politeness compels us to control our annoyance under a pleasant demeanor and ina little while it passes away. We are kept awake by unpleasant thoughts and we turn away from them by suggesting to ourselves thoughts that are more agreeable, and we go to sleep. A few words of commendation and praise brighten the whole day. If we can forget our pain for a little while the pain is apt to cease. In its therapeutic aspects suggestion is like all science, a particular application of common knowledge. The ...