The Healing Effect of Community
Looking back in history, traditional living has always been in community. The Australian Aboriginal, Native American and Masai people of Africa are among the longest living and thriving tribes. They have lived and continue to live in community. They share resources, cooperate, participate and raise their youth in a community setting receiving the genetics and health of birth from a youthful mother and the up-bringing and wisdom of age from the Elders.
These communities happen to be some of the longest living in age expectancy and they do not experience diseases of the modern world. Living in community is protective against both the stressors that cause disease and disease itself. Somewhere along the way, living became more and more isolated, moving away from community toward living in the family unit alone and now to largely living individually. This has led to disengagement from each other. The progress of technology, although beneficial in many ways, has contributed to this disengagement, whether consciously or not.
The simplistic way of life is also to credit for the thriving of these communities as the sheer need and mode of survival consumes their time and energy, leaving very little free for the development of the counter-productive pain-body to manifest. Although this style of living is appealing for its protective qualities, it is also largely unrealistic in the modern world into which we have been born. But it does provide information that can be utilised to live a long, healthy and abundant life of high quality.
Numerous studies have shown that belonging to a cancer support group reduces the rate of cancer recurrence, improves quality of life and improves survival compared to patients who do not belong to community support groups.
Similarly in my clinical experience, I often observed that the patients who experienced the least severe symptoms and side effects, the most easeful treatment journey and the better outcomes were those who were surrounded by family, friends or loved ones throughout their treatment journey.
What are the lessons we can learn here? The importance of community in healing and the importance of a support network. It can often be a challenge to allow loved ones to be exposed to this vulnerable state and certainly a trend towards stoicism but I challenge that those who rally around us are simply waiting for an opportunity to express their love and support.
However, it is important to be mindful that this protective effect is only so when the community is of a similar intentioned nature. Belonging to a community where an individual experiences judgement, betrayal or perceived harm would have the opposite effect. The choice of community is therefore as essential in obtaining the protective effects of being in community.
References
Ornish D, Weidner G, Fair WR, et al. Intensive lifestyle changes may affect the progression of prostate cancer. J Urol 2005;174:1065–9.
Anderen BL, Yang HC, Farrar WB et al. Psychologic Intervention Improves Survival for Breast Cancer Patients. CANCER December 15, 2008 / Volume 113 / Number 12.
