I came across an article the other day that really got me irked. The title was something along the lines of “are your thought causing your acne?” Now I’ve seen a similar approach over the years for a variety of chronic health conditions and I have always found it annoying, but when I saw this, I thought to myself, “well now I’ve seen everything and this is just going too far.”

It was very disappointing, because this article was on a natural health website that I typically enjoy and usually find high quality information. I won’t post a link to the article, because I wont participate in supporting such non-sense ideas. Pardon my language, but I am damn tired of people trying to blame everything on thoughts. I find it offensive. Why? Because it is insulting, irresponsible and counterproductive.

It used to be irritating, but now it’s becoming down right scary and dangerous. This ridiculous line of thinking used to only be found in the New Age population, but now it’s becoming more commonplace in alternative medicine and natural health. Even mainstream medicine is hopping on this bandwagon to some degree.

First of all, illness and disease are caused by genes, bacteria, viruses, parasites, diet, child abuse, nutritional deficiencies and environmental toxins — but not your thoughts. Most of the disease and illness we see in society today is caused by diet and environmental toxins. The problem is that many of us were not aware of this until it was too late and irreparable damage was done to our bodies.

Now, people like myself have cleaned up their diets and have been living a green and healthy lifestyle for many years, however, the problem is that environmental toxins surround us all at all times even we do everything in our power to minimize them. You can control your own diet and environment only to a certain degree.

Yes, we can and should choose to eliminate sugar, unhealthy fats, caffeine, junk food etc. and eat organic, however our food supply is still exposed to dangerous environmental toxins in the manufacturing and shipment process, in the grocery store and the wrappers and packaging that it arrives in. Most of us are not in a position to grow our own gardens or raise our own cattle, fish, poultry, etc. We can make the best choices we can, but sometimes the best doesn’t protect us from damage to our health.

We are all consistently exposed to hidden environmental toxins everywhere we go. It is in our air, our water, our food and our communities. Toxic chemicals that destroy the nervous, endocrine and immune system are found in pretty much every work place, grocery store, post office, educational institution, restaurant, highway, back yard etc. If your neighbors are using chemicals, and most of them are, it is in your backyard and your house. Everyone from the electric company to the transportation department is spreading toxic chemicals around the community on a regular basis. Yes, we can and should do our best to keep toxins out of our living space, but it is impossible to remove them all. So, like it or not, our health is negatively impacted by the choices of those around us.

The natural health field is consistently fighting a battle to get society to recognize the dangers of pharmaceuticals and environmental toxins and the benefits of a healthier diet. The natural health, holistic health or alternative medicine fields have enough battles every day with pharmaceutical companies, the medical society, the FDA and the EPA etc. as we attempt to persuade them to recognize the validity and wisdom of our approach, so when we switch gears like this and say “it’s your thoughts making you sick” it really undermines our goal. It gives the chemical companies, pesticide manufacturers, pharmaceutical industry, FDA, EPA and medical community and society in general the power to say “hey just think different thoughts and these things won’t harm you.” It’s frightening that the natural health field wants to go in this direction. This just makes us look silly.

One day we point out how environmental toxins and diet are the culprit of most of our chronic health conditions and then the next day they are saying, it’s your thoughts. If you would only think the right the thoughts, use the law of attraction or think positive, you can protect your health, won’t get sick or can heal yourself. The latter statement contradicts the former and thus really waters down the validity and impact of the seriousness that environmental toxins and diet play in our life. It really defeats the purpose of making them aware of these issues. We can conclude if the latter is correct then it won’t matter how many environmental toxins we are exposed to or if we consume nothing but junk food, because we can just think it all away or attract good health to us through thoughts. However, that is preposterous.

No matter how positive you keep your thoughts or how well you harness the law of attraction you can not think away the toxicity of pesticides, herbicides, pollution and other endocrine disruptors, carcinogens or neurotoxins. They are going to have a negative effect on bodies that are physiological vulnerable, regardless. You can not think your way out of depression, anxiety attacks, asthma, cancer, autism, acne, migraines, arthritis etc. that is caused by environmental toxins or diet. It is the diet and environment that must be changed, not the mind.

Those who support this belief system justify their claims with studies they say prove that happier optimistic people have less disease. They draw the conclusion that thoughts are responsible for their better outlook on life and the absence of illness. This is absurd. The people who are happy and optimistic are that way because their body is not poisoned by chemicals. It is the lack of damage from environmental toxins or nutritional deficiencies that is responsible for both the happier and optimistic thoughts and less disease. Happy, optimistic people go hand in hand with less disease because toxins have not destroyed their physical and emotional health. The common denominator that is responsible for both of these states is the “lack of damage from toxins,” not thoughts.

When someone gets sick from environmental toxins or nutritional deficiencies and develops a health condition or chronic illness, it also affects their mind. Endocrine disruptors and other neurotoxins as well as nutritional deficiencies damage, interfere and disrupt the neurotransmitters in the brain that are responsible for making people feel positive, optimisitic, balanced, happy and instilled with an overall good sense of well-being. The “negative” thinking is the result of the toxins or lack of nutrients disrupting the neurotransmitters, not a choice.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a firm believer in focusing on the positive, positive affirmations, believing in yourself. etc. and there may be some truth to the law of attraction. There’s no doubt about it, if you go through life focusing on the negatives all the time and not believing in yourself you’re not likely to be very successful or happy. They are great tools for empowering us, enabling us to make positive changes, personal growth and enhancing the quality of life. However, to say our thoughts are responsible for making us sick is going overboard. It’s simplifying a very complex and multi-faceted situation and minimizing the importance of diet and environmental toxins.

Does the mind affect the body? Absolutely and vice versa. Now as you know, I am strong holistic health advocate, so I am completely aware that the body and mind are deeply interconnected and not disputing that. But there is a big difference between saying our thoughts make us sick and the mind and body are interconnected. For those of us who have chronic health conditions caused by diet or environmental toxins, who have worked hard to heal and haven’t found complete healing it is insulting.

Natural health remedies, holistic health and alternative health have a great deal to offer anyone with chronic illness or a health condition, but even still, they are not always the “cure all” they claim to be either and complete healing may not be possible in all cases. Yes, drastic improvements can usually be made with some simple changes in diet and environmental clean up, but there are other factors that come into play and some people don’t respond to natural health approaches either. Sometimes a health condition has advanced too far for complete recovery, some damage done to the body by neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors is irreversible, food allergies or food sensitivities is out of our control — not something we can think away — and sometimes people don’t have enough money to pursue natural treatment options that may improve their health.

Unfortunately, these factors are often overlooked or not mentioned. When someone with a health condition doesn’t respond favorably to a treatment or hasn’t achieved healing, then they are often blamed, with statements such as “their thoughts are making them sick”, which leads us to the second big issue with this line of thinking

The Counterproductive Blame Game

Telling someone that it is their thoughts that makes them sick only makes them feel guilty and shameful for not being able to think positive enough. It is not beneficial in any way. When healing can’t be achieved or illness and disease occur anyway, then the victim feels inadequate and hopeless. It’s counterproductive.

It is as bad, and pretty much the same, as saying “it’s all in your head.” People living with chronic health conditions have enough hurdles to face on a daily basis and for those of us trying to live a natural health lifestyle we are constantly fighting to keep our nutritional freedoms and rights to holistic health care and education. We don’t need this unnecessary burden put on us as well.

As the very wise Kat Duff tell us in her superb book, The Alchemy of Illness, “Theories that disease are caused by mental states . . . are always an index of how much is not understood about the physical terrain of a disease.”

We are a society that loves to blame and shame the victim. Unfortunately many people are willing to accept this and believe it, which only undermines their chances of recovery even more, encourages feelings of hopelessness and helplessness and lowers self-esteem.

In this particular instance it is because society wants to believe that a chronic health condition will never happen to them and if it does, they will be able to get rid of it with the right thoughts. It is too terrifying to accept that the Universe does not always make sense and we do not have control over everything. If these things can be controlled, then everyone can feel safe. If they blame the victim, then it is the victims fault and they don’t have to worry about anything. As long as they control their thoughts they will be okay. It’s an illusion that allows them to live without fear. Rather than the health care provider admitting they don’t have all the answers or that an approach may be ineffective for some people, their solution is to blame.

We are also a society who is obsessed with control. We want to control other species, beliefs, cultures, countries etc. and often take drastic measures to do so. We have also adopted the practice of labeling any feelings or thoughts that are uncomfortable as “negative emotions or thoughts” and something that should be controlled or done away with. There is no such thing as negative emotions. Emotions are just emotions. Some of them are uncomfortable. The key is to learn how to deal with them effectively, not control or repress them.

Anger, grief, sadness and all the other so called “negative thoughts or emotions” have a purpose in our life. Anger, for example, makes us stand up for ourselves, speak out against injustice and motivates us to change, while sadness and grief cleanse and heal us. They are a natural and normal part of life. Labeling them as negative and encouraging people not to feel, not to get angry, not to get sad or don’t have any conflict is ridiculous and unhealthy.

Experiencing all thoughts and emotions in a constructive and healthy manner is the goal. If we weren’t supposed to get angry or sad then it wouldn’t be a part of who we are. The problem is that we have never been taught how to express this anger, sadness, grief or any other so called negative emotions or thoughts in a healthy manner. We are encouraged to repress them, avoiding conflict and discomfort at all cost.

We should embrace the so called “negative” thoughts or feelings. When they are acknowledged, accepted and expressed then they lose their power over us. When we try to deny them, hide them, repress them or control them then they have a negative effect on us.

Additionally, in our society the “victim” is often viewed as shameful and weak. It is somehow a reflection on them and they are looked down upon with pity. There are a variety of definitions for being a victim and shame is not one of them. It typically means a person who suffers from an adverse circumstance. There is no shame in developing a health condition that is out of your control.

Lastly, it is grossly irresponsible to promote this view that thoughts are making people sick. To brush illness or disease off as thoughts, closes the mind to looking for other solutions that may actually work. It impedes scientific progress and perpetuates the unhealthy cycle of poor diet and nutrition and the use of environmental toxins that pervades our society today.

So the answer to the question, are your thoughts making you sick, is a resounding — No, they are not.

Don’t let anyone put this on you. Don’t let society project their perceptions or need to control everything and avoid fear into your experiences. Again, as the very wise Kat Duff tell us in her book, The Alchemy of Illness – the earth is sick from all the environmental toxins we are exposing her to and those of us with chornic health conditions are her symptoms.