Dr. Greenberg holds a B.A. from Boston University and M.A. and M.D. degrees from the University of Heidelberg School of Medicine. He has been on the research and teaching faculty of Heidelberg Medical School and has been practicing alternative and holistic medicine for eight years. Dr. Greenberg has published numerous works on gastroenterology, dermatology, immunology, neurology, alternative healing methods and holistic medicine. Dr. Greenberg is currently chief of the Hamburg branch of the TELOS Group of Clinics for Natural and Environmental Medicine in Germany.

The origin of many diseases is the psychological or emotional system. An individual receives a particular signal through the senses, and that signal is transmitted to the central nervous system where it is stored. These experiences are conceptualized as likes or dislikes and cause an emotional response which is then integrated into the psyche. If you are clinging to a certain concept elicited through your senses, if you are under stress, fear, anxiety, or shock, these emotions can have a negative effect on your immune system. We neglect our emotions in everyday life because we are so bombarded with our personal relationships, job responsibilities, the media, and sensory input coming from all over the place. We really do neglect looking deeply within ourselves to see our behaviour and what we are trying to cover up. We distract ourselves, and this could have a profound impact on our health.

Dr. Steven Greer from London found a significant connection between emotional conditions and an increased incidence of cancer. He found that individuals who have a painful loss of a loved one and who do not go through the deep grieving process and face their own deep remorse have an increased chance of getting sick. Frustration based on unsatisfactory living situations or unachieved goals can also lead to sickness and disease. Stress, fear, desperation and hopelessness can increase depression which can lead to illness. He found that patients with severe depression had increased amounts of antibodies which are present with acute infections - antibodies against viruses, herpes, Epstein Barr and cancer. Constant anger or fear were found to have negative effects on the immune system. Defensiveness also increased cells which suppress the immune system. If you are defensive, what are you doing? Most likely you are hiding something that's very deeply ingrained in your psyche that you really do not want to look at because of all the reactions that could take place - fear, grieving and sadness - it may be better to be defensive about all that and compromise your health by being defensive. When you suppress emotional reactions, compromise deep unresolved emotion through overactivity or filling yourself with constant stimuli, this can lead to a negative immune system. People under stress and people with nicotine and alcohol abuse were found to be vulnerable to illness and disease significantly above and beyond the average. Conversely, people who are open and curious, who have lost their inhibitions, people with dignity and self-esteem, were found to have a significantly stronger immune system. It was found that deep relaxation resulted in greater effectiveness of the white blood cells in fighting infection.

CONFRONTING YOUR EMOTIONS

The mind, the psyche, and the emotions are extremely important for your total well being. I have a few helpful hints which you can use on a long term basis to deal with emotions which may arise when you are upset and will help you learn how to nurture the emotions and needs behind all those compensating reactions that you may have.

Non-attachment to emotions: Where do the emotions come from? They are old and new, unresolved, conscious and mostly unconscious problems. Emotions are integral parts of your personality, but they are elicited from all those things on the outside: your partner, your job, a situation. So don't project your emotions onto your external world. Let your emotions come up. Don't suppress them, but remember not to say or do anything that will harm those around you or the environment. Just let your emotions be there. Don't grasp onto their importance or cling to them too tightly. If you attach to their importance too much, you will get into difficult situations. If you practice the thought of their non-importance or non-attachment, in time, that will be a very excellent way to cope with those emotions.

Be in tune with those emotions and feelings: How do they affect or stimulate your body when they come up? Do they elicit cold hands or feet, heart palpitations, stomach indigestion, and so on? Just be aware of what is going on in your body. With time this is all part of the process, and slowly but surely you will allow these deep unresolved situations to dissipate, to resolve, and with time, you will definitely feel better. Whether they be jealousy, hate, aggression, fear, remorse, feelings of loss or grief, stay mindful with those emotions. How do you feel in response to these emotions? Do you want to hit somebody, go into the forest and scream, or are you sad, do you want to cry? Let them stay there. Don't try to shove them away and cover them up. The more room you give the emotions, even though they are terribly difficult to cope with, to allow to be present in you, you can give them a little more room, a little more patience and you will definitely with time be able to resolve them and you will feel better.

Acceptance: Calm yourself on a long term basis and recognize and accept the fact that specific emotions and patterns are part of you. It's sometimes very difficult to really accept the fact that we have problems that are really an integral part of our personalities. The problem does not have to be interpreted as negative, but it may get in the way of your happiness and your well-being, and that may get in the way of your immune system. Recognize the fact that in particular circumstances, these emotions will probably arise again. For instance, when you have a red light you will feel a little impatient. It's good to know in what particular situations your emotions will arise. Get familiar with that.

Suppression and avoidance isn't helpful: Know that you might be going through deep psychological changes and should not rush this internal process. With time it will resolve itself, it will dissipate. To cover it up, hide it, suppress it or avoid it is not exactly the most optimal thing. We may undertake certain distracting measures and activities when we don't want to confront our problems or conditions because it's too painful to really look at what is beyond that particular emotion within ourselves. We could have a lot of fear, and we sometimes need to cover that up.

Learn how to say no: It is so difficult for us sometimes to say: "No, I don't want that". That is a very important part of knowing how to calm yourself down on a long term basis, because learning how to say no, even if it means hurting somebody or leaving them, or deeply disappointing them, may be what you really need in order to grow and expand.

Live up to the internal dignity and personal honour within yourself: Perhaps some of us have been doing everything for everybody else and expending our energy for them and other situations. Within ourselves perhaps we say that's not what we really want or what we need. That is your dignity, your honour.

Changes: Don't be afraid of the changes that you will go through, of the fear of what is deeply within. It is very difficult to confront certain situations because when we confront ourselves, there is a possibility that we will be empty, and we are not used to that empty state. We have all the patterns we have had for so many years and now we are confronted with the possibility of changing that. Unconsciously, or perhaps consciously, we think the next phase of it is emptiness. We don't know what to do or how to feel or how to think. It is a whole rearranging process. Don't be afraid of the changes because in the future it will all work out. Just go through it and hang on. Sometimes we fall back in the old ways. Be mindful of the possibility of being consistent in the future, of going through the changes and sticking with those changes, and if possible, not going back to the old ways. Slowly we will get used to the newly formed psychological and possibly physical situations that the next step brings.

Nurture the weaker part of yourself: Accept the fact that this weak side of yourself is at least for now an integral part of your internal workings, that there is a reason why you have been putting up these walls and that is something that you want to hide, and this is our weaker side. If we can just accept that we really have weakness within ourselves this will help the process along the path. The weaker part of you does not have to last forever. The more we get in tune with it by decreasing distracting activities on the outside and become more mindful, and get in touch with this weaker part of ourselves, then the process will really move along. It will take some time, maybe weeks, months, even years, but if you really work on it, it will go away.

Try to trust people: Trust is difficult for some individuals, to allow ourselves to open up just a little bit more, to be more vulnerable, more trusting. That is a really good way to start opening up ourselves. It is o.k. to request what you physically, mentally, or emotionally need. That deals with trust, trusting yourself, trusting another individual, your therapist, relative, or spiritual leader or whatever. You get in touch with certain emotions and have the trust and confidence to open up and say to someone that you are very sad, or you need something. It is sometimes very difficult, but very helpful.

Allow yourself to be mentally or physically touched: You can't just turn on a button and allow yourself to be touched, but be open and vulnerable and sensitive in that particular situation, and this can release a tremendous amount of unconscious, unresolved problems. Know that it is really o.k. to show any or all of your emotions and that we all have emotions - sadness, grief, anger, fear, desires, wishes, or the sense of being betrayed, lost, empty, or hopeless. The more one gets in touch with those emotions and is able to express them, the more the process will move along.

Lastly, accept the weaker parts of yourself with a lot of love and compassion as you would your partner, your child or very best friend.