Samichhya’s Determination. The Qualities of Healing found through Faith?

Approach: Spontaneous Cure

Samichhya shared a wonderful story with us today about her experience resolving a medically unexplained condition she experienced during her childhood. From a pre-school age until seven years old she remembers periods of time where, with no fixed pattern her left leg would go entirely numb and she would be unable to move it at all. This would last for a period of 1-3 days in which time it would slowly improve. This would happen approximately every month and medical intervention and investigations did not reveal the cause of her symptoms.

It is curious to see the similarities of positive personality traits in Samichhya’s story compared to Fiona’s resolution. I believe it is worthwhile to look at the person behind the story and the reason perhaps from a MindBody perspective that they may have been successful. Our observation of unclear resolutions from around the globe will start to help us shed light on our similarities within chronic condition healing.

A Background in Determination

Samichhya explains that one Saturday she was due to attend Saturday Church School (the equivalent of Sunday School in Nepal) and she awoke with her familiar symptoms. With her huge determination she convinced her mother to allow her to attend the school, being literally carried onto the bus to get there, stating that when she comes home, her symptoms will be resolved. She doesn’t remember exactly what happened during the day, but true to her word her symptoms had resolved by the end of the day and she was able to walk again. Most interestingly, her symptoms never returned after that day.

Medically unexplained symptoms are far from rare. In a David Clarke study from 2016, up to 25-33% of patients who presented to primary care had medically unexplained symptoms. The author suggests psychophysiological approach for these patients should guide the treatment course.

Her faith is so clearly evident throughout the interview and is her belief as to what caused her healing. For those with a clinician understanding of chronic condition treatment, what one might notice is a clear theme of self empowerment and a determined mindset in all her answers.

Jeff Levin (2009), a doctor well versed on the addition of faith to a healing strategy has written a very interesting theoretical model on why perhaps having faith helps a person to heal. He discusses the boost of hope, optimisim and the ability to ‘open up’ as to why these cures may be effective in certain circumstances.

We understand from frequent reflection into case studies, that when a person moves from a victim mindset i.e. ‘This thing is greater than me’ to a self-empowered mindset ‘I am the one in control of this journey’ extraordinary changes can happen in a person’s recovery journey.  What anyone would notice from Samichhya’s story is that her determination was a cornerstone of her childhood mind and knowing Samichhya now, it remains to this day!

(Turner, 2015), notes a similar phenomenon of self-empowerment happening in persons who gain ‘radical remission’ from cancer. The patients who take control of their own healing and have active agency of the recovery journey do better in the long term

Samichhya explained that in Nepal, a more collectivist mindset is taught to women, a quiet acceptance and doing things for the good of others is the norm, which makes her self determination even more unusual and even more relevant to her healing story. How we feel about ourselves and what we are capable of matters.

I think it is also important to talk about Samichhya’s age when her recovery story takes place. If we understand anything about neural plasticity then we know that it is when we are children that we are at our most pliable. Samichhya says clearly that she didn’t feel she had to overcome any programming in order for her resolution to take place, though she suggests as she has gotten older her connection to her faith and her beliefs has evolved as she has grown up. I am curious to wonder how much her age had an effect on her change.

Intangible Factors: Mindset (What is this?)

• Determination – Nobody was going to dissuade young Samichhya from going to church

• Belief – A steadfast knowledge that this condition will be resolved

• Positivity – She never allowed the condition to bring her down. It was simply a thing that would go away.

• Humility – She has reverence to understand that not everything will be within her understanding and instead of feeling overwhelmed by the vastness of a higher power, gains strength from it.

Tangible Factors: Environmental

• Self guided, self led, self empowered – It is nobodies doing but mine

Barriers and Learning

• Our first interview in Nepal! Samichhya was a wonderful orator and I am slightly concerned there may be too much background noise in the shot to hear it all clearly. I was too engaged to ask her to stop her train of thought. In the future, I shall find a way to gently interrupt and ask for a repetition of the answer. I was also conscious of not wishing to appear to ‘waste’ her time, even though I know she wouldn’t have minded at all!

• A lesson in story telling – by getting Samichhya to start with her story in its entirety it allowed some of the further questions to be skipped as they had already been answered. It was a smoother and more efficient process. One, where relevant, will be repeated.

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