MOTHER’s Newsworthies: Norman Cousins, Steven D. Jellinek and Karl Hess

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PHOTO: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
Norman Cousins had an incurable sickness according to doctors. Cousins found that his attitude — positive emotions and a strong will to live — played a major role in his recovery.

Brief: Norman Cousins

In 1984 Norman Cousins, editor of the Saturday Review, became ill. His body ached, he began to have trouble moving his limbs, and gravel-like deposits appeared under his skin. Cousins sought out medical opinion, but — aside from a general diagnosis of a collagen disorder — no specific explanation or course of treatment could be found … his sickness was “incurable.”

Cousins was not willing to accept a passive victim’s role, however. With the aid of his physician, the journalist put together a personal course of treatment that involved massive doses of vitamin C … and equally large injections of laughter. Cousins found that watching a Marx brothers’ movie so relaxed him and so effectively anesthetized his pain — that he was able to sleep without the aid of drugs.

The editor eventually cured himself of his ailment … though it’s impossible to tell whether the remission of his symptoms was brought about by a placebo effect or by the vitamin and laughter therapy (or a combination of the two). What is important is that Cousins’ attitude — that of a combatant armed with positive emotions and a strong will to live — played a major role in his recovery. You can read the inspiring story in Anatomy of an Illness. It’s a book that has important implications for every aspect of the wholistic movement in medicine!

Brief: Steven D. Jellinek 

  • Published on Mar 1, 1980
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