I think you’re touching on something here. A “new” or “novel” therapy isn’t going to get out of the starting gate if the first people trying it are cynical and skeptical. But as it spreads, it reaches those people.
Belief is powerful, and people are good at decieving themselves. We normally think of that as a bad thing, but sometimes it can be repurposed for good.
I have been told that I am a “bad patient” because I don’t open up easily (especially face to face) and when under stress I withdraw, but apparently that means that the reason the therapy isn’t working is because I am not trying hard enough, or don’t want to.
Hmmm… where else have I heard that line? If you aren’t getting what you think you need from God, maybe you aren’t praying hard enough or trusting him enough.
If I take a drug on schedule and it doesn’t work, we accept that the drug is not effective for me. But the immediate go-to for a lot of therapies is that the patient is at fault for not doing it right.
I mean if a therapy or a drug works for you, that’s great! It’s fantastic. But to say it’s the patient’s fault when it’s not working, especially when we know so little about the cobbled together mess of electrical circuits and chemicals we call a brain, is very cult-like to me.
