The Untrue Belief Template

"Robert Rodgers, Ph.D."
robert@parkinsonsrecovery.com

Our mission at Parkinson's Recovery is to offer hope to people who
have been diagnosed with Parkinson's.

People with Parkinson's do recover. People with Parkinson's do find ways to relieve their
symptoms. Research consistently shows that ten percent of study populations
experience no - I repeat no - deterioration in symptoms.

We are all about bringing to center stage stories of hope. "Progressive"
and "Degenerative" may be the accurate experience for some people - perhaps even many - but it does not have to be the experience for you.

Our work with persons who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's
reveals that health care providers are entirely pessimistic about
any prospects for recovery. The following questions are never
asked:

How long will it take for me to begin feeling better?
How long will it take for me to fully recover?
How much better will I feel next year at this time?
When will I feel strong enough to ski again - or run - or play
baseball?

Rather, the questions on the dinner table for people who have just
learned that have been diagnosed with Parkinson's are:

How fast will I deteriorate?
How much worse will I feel next year at this time?
How long will it be before I am in a wheel chair?
When will I fall and break my hip?

I have a simple point to make which I want to make simply. When
people are first diagnosed with Parkinson's, the news they hear
about their future is pessimistic.

The following are quotes from individuals who participated in the
Parkinsons Energy Project in Portland, Oregon. Our research project evaluated the effects of energy healing on the symptoms of persons with Parkinsons. Before the project began each participant answered the following question:

What has your doctor told you about Parkinson's?

"I guess the symptoms increase to the point that you are disabled.
I understand that one doesn't die of Parkinson's but you get so
weakened that you can't fight it off."

"He told me be sure to have prescription drug coverage that I was
going to need it. He said I would live probably another 20 years.
They just try to reassure me that I do not have a terminal illness.
He said that I wouldn't die of Parkinson's. He said I probably had
it at least 5 years before my symptoms showed up."

"I will use a walker and wheel chair at some point. It is going to
be hard for me to keep my balance. I have already noticed bobbing
now and then. I haven't fallen. Everything I have heard about
people is that it is going to be horrible. So, I do not have any
reason that it is not - nobody has ever said that it is going to
stop progressing and it is not going to get worse. I have never
heard anything positive to make me feel hopeful."

"I had done some research and I said (to the doctor) so, what we
can expect is steadily deteriorating in condition, but Parkinson's
will not kill her, is that right? He said, 'Yes, that is correct."

"It is a progressive disease but different people progress at
different rates. I can remember sitting in his office and saying to
him that some people never progress beyond the initial stages and
he said yes, some people don't. Most people do. I do not think he
said a lot about long term. But I have read enough to be scared
about that. One thing he did say was that the medications did not
stop the progression so I connected A and B and said why take
medications if you do not need it."

"It is a progressive disease. How fast it progresses and how far it
progresses could be individual. There is no way of determining that
beforehand at the present time and there is no way of absolutely
assuring that it is Parkinsons - the only definitive diagnosis is
post partum. And that seems a little radical."

"Besides the original diagnosis more or less my neurologist said
that this is a progressive disease. Here is a box of pills. Go take
them and have a good life."

"The neurologist tells us more than anybody ... he hasn't told us
that much other than he has this medicine."

"The doctor just says it is degenerative. Come back in 6 months. We will treat the symptoms the best we can."

"He actually did not tell us a lot. When he told us that my husband
had Parkinson's plus, my husband just said 'That sounds like a
death sentence.' And the doctor was very unresponsive."

"He just said I could expect to have more and more symptoms over
the years."

"Not a great deal. He talks about what a chronic disease means and
it is not treatable other than reducing the symptoms. It was a very
brief conversation and I have not seen that neurologist since."

"Standard answer was that it was a degenerative disease that cannot be stopped and so my husband's symptoms will progress and get worse. Now they don't identify which symptoms but they just say he will get worse. No time table. No definitive answers. Just a
general answer."

"We had a short conversation - the worst case scenario is total
paralysis. You aren't going to die.

"Not one person we interviewed was given a shred hope by their
doctors that they could get relief from their symptoms or that they
could actually feel better. We steadfastly challenge this belief
template at Parkinsons Recovery. Evidence proves it is simply not
true.

We are assembling stories of people who have recovered fully or who have found relief from their symptoms. We are analyzing research that evaluates the impact of natural therapies on the symptoms of Parkinson's which offer a promise of hope. We are assembling a compelling body of evidence that demonstrates relief from symptoms happens to people every day. And, it can happen for you.

Our purpose is to acknowledge and honor the healthy belief template that recovery is possible. There can be "progression," but the progression is toward health and wellness and not toward a
wheelchair. When hope is held close to the chest, a journey of
recovery unfolds.

It is possible to feel better.

It is possible to find relief from symptoms.

Some people have even proven it is possible to recover.

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D
Parkinsons Recovery

If I were the neurologist examining me when I was first diagnosed- at age 32 or so-what would I say to me: "Who ARE you? What about your life and your soul have brought you to this point? What do you think is lacking or that you need or would help?" Then I would say, "let's see how things progress, but here's what I have that might help
and here are some considerations about their side effects...And remember that every person is different, and while I will do my best to try and discern how to intervene here, I can't promise any particular outcome...Meanwhile, what are your strengths, how can we maximize them, and what are the weak areas that we need to bring attention to."

ok, glad I got to say that to myself.

What was actually said to me: "We ARE seeing more and more of this in young people these days. No, no one ever gets better."