Articles on Illness | Dr. John Diamond

Book: The Veneration of Life

An inspiring new perspective on Alzheimer's.

“A Commentary on Psychosomatic Medicine”

Who can ever establish when a case of heart disease really started? Was it with the first change in electrical activity, was it with the first symptom of pain in the chest, or was it when subtle biochemical changes occurred or when there were subtle pathological changes in the blood vessels of the heart, perhaps many years before the patient ever had a complaint?

“A Tribute to Dr. Louis Cholden”

Louis Cholden died at the age of thirty-eight in an automobile accident. He had been on his way to moderate a panel of the 1956 convention of the American Psychiatric Association. The loss was ours, as he would have become one of the greatest leaders in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. His writings are among the mere handful in the field that truly proclaim love.

“Aspiration Above Illness”

Like all diseases, the cause of cancer is multi-factorial, but, from my point of view, the central factor is always the loss of Aspiration

“His Chosen Path”

When I meet with a sufferer from any disease I recommend that he read all the books on it that he can find. And then choose the particular approach that appeals to him.

I reassure him that I will assist him along his chosen path. But – and it’s a big but – it must be his free choice.

“Not Wanting to Give Up Their Illness”

For years I had to use a faulty electric hand drier in the toilet of an office building I visit very frequently. Sometimes it would turn on when, as instructed, I placed my hands under the nozzle, or if I hit it – just so. But next time in the same place, it would not.

“Spiritual Medicine”

Thanks to modern medical advances, the mechanical body marches on, but the spirit has died. We have to some degree cured the body, but we have done little or nothing to cure the mind or the spirit.

“The Disease Diathesis”

There is, I believe, a diathesis, a desire, a pre-disposition, for every major illness. And the true cure, and even more importantly the prevention, will come about only when this is acknowledged and overcome.

“The Fellow Traveler”

There is a syndrome I call The Fellow Traveler. It can be applied to any situation, any illness, any problem and involves the person who is the closest and usually caring for the patient.

“The Inner Flame”

The start of all illness is the loss of the inherent will to be well. In fact, I believe that the illness itself is this loss of the will to be well, just differently manifested depending on various lesser etiological factors.