Books on Multiple Sclerosis

Louise Hay introduced many people to the mental patterns behind particular diseases as well as the healthy patterns that the body needs to heal.  It is an excellent introduction to the concept of the mind-body link and the underlying psychological influence behind illness. It also introduces the idea that you can, not just manage an illness, but heal your body by healing your life.

Unfortunately, there are only a few sentences focused on MS which can provide limited guidance as to what you can do. In the book, multiple sclerosis is described as "mental hardness, hard-heartedness, iron will, and inflexibility". I suspect, that that is NOT how you would describe yourself though that might be how some perceive you.  

Louise Hay's solution for multiple sclerosis? Let go of the fear and chose loving, joyous thoughts and create a loving and joyous world. Ultimately, the work is to understand that deep down, you are now safe and free.

From my experience working with MS, I would suggest focusing on releasing control, which usually comes from fear and a strict parent and/or a chaotic childhood, and on learning how to live more from joy instead. And secondly, do all you can to let your body know that you are now safe, that everyone is capable of taking care of themselves, and that it's ok to be you. 

This book is the diary of Christel Nani, a nurse and gifted medical intuitive.  Though the book focuses on the underlying cause of diseases in general, she had multiple sclerosis.

In the book, Christel talks about how people with the same disease have the same energetic patterns and lowered vibrations. Peoples' negative emotions, thoughts, unhealthy patterns of behavior lower their vibrations (tribal beliefs, toxic thoughts, other people’s energy) and allow illness to resonate in their bodies. Simply treating the symptoms will not raise a person’s vibration; it would merely buy time. Focusing on raising one’s vibration would not only lead to physical, emotional, and spiritual health but could prevent illness.

Examples of low vibration:

• Hopelessness and pessimism
• Need for validation
• Narrow-mindedness, cynicism
• Fear (is the most harmful emotion)
• Conflicting thoughts (I am to be free and independent and I crave to be saved)
• Unwillingness (or belief its not ok) to express anger
• Need for control
• Feel you don’t deserve to be loved. Feel unworthy.
• Think of others before you think of yourself. Silence your own needs; yet take care of others insistently.

Example high vibration:

• High self-esteem, love, trust, generosity, and happiness.

She also pointed out that if we get some benefit - emotional, psychological, or practical - from having disease, we won't get well no matter what treatment we are given.  This obstacle needs addressing on our journey to healing multiple sclerosis to be successful.

This book on multiple sclerosis details Gary Holz's remarkable journey of healing from his MS through the work he did with a remote Aboriginal tribe.  The main concept of the tribe is that the day we are born, we are a body-mind-soul. What we do to one has a direct effect on the others because they are the same thing.  If our external and internal universe is working in harmony, we will be healthy spiritually and physically.  If not, we won't.

Gary was taught by the tribe that his history was connected to his MS.  His disease was simply mirroring the emotional numbness he had experienced for such a long time. The tribe spent some time teaching him the five essentials of healing:

1. Willingness
2. Awareness
3. Acceptance
4. Empowerment
5. Focus

The book goes through each one in detail and what he, through his MS personality, had to let go of and to learn.  Of course, one of his first struggles, very much a personality trait of MS, was his impatience and wanting to get it done now so that he could return to his old life! He went through quite a journey of learning, letting go, and change.  And it significantly improved his symptoms including recovering feeling throughout his body (one of his main symptoms).

The book is chock-full of examples of working through the beliefs, behaviors, and emotions related to those diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

In Deb Shapiro's view, the mind is reflected in every part of the human body, and through the body, we can get in touch with the issues that we have been repressing, denying or ignoring in mind.  The role of the mind and emotions in our state of health is vital. If something goes wrong in the body, we can find the cause in a combination of physical and psycho-emotional factors. Bodies are not things that only need mechanical repair.

In regards to multiple sclerosis, Dr. Shapiro points out four key areas of work:

1. Conflicts.  Some examples are:

• Between helping others and refusing help ourselves
• Being our worst enemy
• Being eaten by guilt or shame concerning our past
• Going in a direction not true to ourselves (usually because we feel its what's expected of us)

2. Limiting Beliefs.  Some examples are:

• Fear of failure
• Need to prove ourselves and be ambitious at work rather than doing what we want
• Not believing we are worthy
• Believing we don't have needs

3. Numbing Emotions so as not to deal with change

4. Self Critical and Judgmental of ourselves including blame, guilt, and shame.

5. Personal Boundaries

• Letting others determine what we think or feel and allowing them to influence us
• Trying to do too much on our own.  Not getting or asking for support.

Dr. Gabor Mate book identifies four key areas that are significant risk factors for chronic illness, including multiple sclerosis:

1. Automatic and compulsive regard for the emotional needs of others while ignoring our own.
2.  Automatic and rigid identification with duty, role, and responsibility rather than your own needs.
3. Suppress negative emotions.
4. Feeling responsible for what other people's emotions and we think we must never disappoint anyone.

In his chapter on MS "The Little Girl Too Good to Be True," he describes the MS personality as not being able to withdraw from their helping mode, the desperate need for approval, and major boundary problems especially with a parent or sibling (to the point of not experiencing where one ended, and the other began).  Many of those that eventually express MS in the body are exposed to chronic stress in childhood while, due to circumstances (such as a narcissistic or alcoholic parent) could not respond in either fight or flight (our instinct) and, instead felt helpless and/or hopeless. The stress eventually becomes repressed and invisible to the point that we no longer realize we have needs ourselves and we consider it normal to constantly have to meet the needs of others.

He documents this chapter with plenty of research behind stress and psychosocial factors and the onset and progression of MS.

This book on multiple sclerosis and NLP documents Sharalee's journey from imbalance, numbness, extreme fatigue and sometimes bedridden to becoming completely symptom-free.  Her story is told by her as well as her NLP practitioners (watch the interview with Sharalee using NLP here).

The main areas they discovered and worked on with Sharalee's MS where:

• Inner conflicts and imbalances (examples: Caring for others vs. self-care, helping and asking for help, and do do do vs. having freedom
• Needing to have a compelling, robust and healthy future to aspire to.  And taking steps to achieve it (rather than thinking there is nothing I can do and feeling a victim and helpless)
• Being very dissociated with feelings, our own needs, and body and externally orientated to becoming more associated into life, our emotions, our body and the hear and now.
• Learn to trust the body and talk to it as our best friend. And learn and trust that you have all the resources, you need to become a healthy human being.
• Removing the limiting beliefs. Especially around not ok to feel, this will only get worse, I am here to make you happy, etc.
• Developing personal boundaries and updating our relationship patterns both with parents and partners
• Working through our issues with sexuality

As with Christel Nani's, Dermot talks about healing disease in general and very briefly mentioned he had worked through multiple sclerosis himself.  Dermot O'Connor, during his journey, became a master NLP practitioner and also went back to school to study chinese medicine and acupuncture. This book divides the journey of healing into five main steps:

1. Developing the psychology of health recovery. This includes changing negative language and self-talk , transforming the nocebo effect of getting a negative diagnosis, and creating the intention, rituals, and visualizations of healing.
2. Taking Charge of Emotions by addressing repressed and negative emotions such as anger, not willing to forgive, guilt, grief, fear, and worry.
3. Nutritional Plan
4. Detoxing
5. Exercise through Chi Kung
   

B.L Bonczk book on multiple sclerosis tells his journey from the time before he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, through his doctor telling him he'd never walk nor work again to his full recovery. It's the story of what he learned on the way, the pushes he received from the universe, and his eventual journey into becoming an alternative healer and hypnotherapist.

In his book, he emphasizes the importance of realizing that our bodies want to achieve health and can work to heal itself.  It's our work to free ourselves from the thoughts that we are not good enough and that we can’t do something.  It starts by saying that firstly, we need to stop believing what others says of who we are or can be, and trust our instincts to become everything we are capable of.

Unfortunately, this book with a chapter on MS has not been translated into English. His other book "The Healing Power of Illness" can help us understand the relationship between the mind, the soul, and disease. I interviewed and then extensively studied with Dr. Dahlke for twelve months.

Ruediger Dahlke's approach is to look at symptoms and illness not as our enemies, karma or punishments, but as our teachers.  The purpose of our symptoms is to give us information about underlying issues in our lives that are out of balance, such as emotions we have been suppressing and challenges we have not been facing.  If we do not notice and address these issues while they are still on the energetic level of emotions, mind, and spirit, they eventually present in the body, so we have to notice.  His work gives us the tools to understand the underlying energetic components of symptoms and the types of actions we can take to restore balance.  When we do this, the symptoms are no longer needed, and we can heal.

According to Dr. Dahlke's book, "El Mensaje Curative del Alma," the mission of multiple sclerosis is to abandon the fight. The multiple sclerosis, or “multiple hardenings,” is already sufficiently explicit. The main characteristic is an extraordinary hardening against oneself and the world; a feeling that, frequently, is translated into lack of consideration of one’s needs, as well as severe basic and moral principles. A common feature is a need to strive for excellence and do everything to perfection. Also a tendency to place blame for everything on themselves