Having Strong Reasons for Living
Why having strong reasons for living matters.
Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds
Kelly Turner, PhD, a researcher who specializes in integrative oncology, studied one hundred cancer survivors and analysed over one thousand cases of people who experienced a “radical remission” from “incurable” cancer. She found that these people did not sit around waiting for a miracle, but made significant changes in their lives. Dr Kelley found ten healing factors common among all of the cases she studied. These ten key factors are:
- Radically changing your diet
- Taking control of your health
- Following your intuition
- Using herbs and supplements
- Releasing suppressed emotions
- Increasing positive emotions
- Embracing social support
- Deepening your spiritual connection
- Having strong reasons for living
- Daily physical exercise
See more at www.RadicalRemission.com.
In an interview with Marianne Cirone for Integrative Cancer Review, Dr Turner said “Things like “Having Strong Reasons for Living.” Well, what if you look at that as the opposite of depression? Depression meaning “no will to live.” So, a strong reason for living translates to a strong will to live, which means no depression.
“What the Ayurveda doctor that I interviewed in India said is, “Having that strong will to live – it’s not just the will to live, but it’s an actual reason, like a specific goal that you have in mind. Like, I want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro before I die, or I want to see my kids grow up, or I want to write that novel.
“What this Ayurveda doctor told me during our interview was that having that connection to your dharma – dharma being the Ayurveda word for “life purpose,” your particular life purpose, not all humans, but yours in particular – is what draws prana into the body. If you are not connected to yourself, to your dharma, to your personal reason for being on this planet, if you’re not really deeply connected to that, then you’re not bringing life force [prana] into your system.”
Study
This Meta Analysis of 10 prospective studies with a total of 136,265 participants says a significant association was observed between having a higher purpose in life and reduced all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events.
Depression and cancer mortality
This meta-analysis showed that depression is associated with elevated risk for mortality in cancer patients and those who develop cancer.
Page updated 2023