More Louise Hay Garbage
I admit that I’ve whored around the Self-Help section of life’s cosmic bookstore, looking for answers. But since perfectionism can lead to procrastination, I stopped. Serial killers tend to have high self-esteem, too, but I found that out in the Psychology section, Self-Help’s educated relative a few shelves down.
But there’s one old mindfuck that keeps coming back and chafing my brain like a mental herpes sore. Her name is Louise Hay. I bought her book, You Can Heal Your Life, in the late 1980’s. (Hey, the Eighties were a bad time for a lot of us- don’t judge me.) Among other things, she said that we choose our parents before we’re born. Don’t consider the logistics of that for too long or your head may explode. We also mentally cause all of our own physical problems and can cure them with a little affirmation. My cat puked on the book cover. Was he trying to tell me something? In Louise Hay’s universe, maybe. I loathed that book. It sold millions.
Now I see that she has published many books since then. From the look of her website photo, she invested my $12.99 in bad plastic surgery. Affirmations can’t cure that any more than she can wish back her shit-canned facial skin. Since I won’t be contributing to the sales of her newer book, I thought it would be fair to share some thoughts from her first one. (I ripped off the cover and kept it. God, I miss that puke stain.) Here are a few of Louise Hay’s diagnoses for mental causes of physical problems.
Warts: “Little expressions of hate. Belief in ugliness.”
Tinnitus: “Refusal to listen.Not hearing the inner voice. Stubbornness.”
Multiple Sclerosis: “Mental hardness, hard-heartedness, iron will, inflexibility. Fear.”
Ingrown Toenail: “Worry and guilt about your right to move forward.”
Tapeworm: “Strong belief in being a victim and unclean. Helpless to the seeming attitudes of others.”
Of course, I don’t want to spoil the ending for you by writing down Ms. Hay’s cures. But I must make one exception. If you or anyone you know is currently suffering from gangrene (“Mental morbidity. Drowning of joy with poisonous thoughts”) apply this information immediately: I now choose harmonious thoughts and let the joy flow freely through me. Repeat this new thought pattern to yourself several times. Assume that you are already in the process of healing.
Please, Ms. Hay, forgive me for using your sacred text! I feel it is my duty to pass on your healing message! Sufferers must be free from the bondage of Western medicine and learn that they have only themselves to blame! They must think, think, think their way to health. (Oh, and they must buy your books, too. But Ms. Hay, since you gave us all the tools in the first one, why did you need to write another? Have you been holding out on us?)
Please remember, dear reader, if the snake oil you’re drinking tastes bitter, maybe you’re just not drinking the right brand!
N.B. I’m working on a project of my own: If We All Concentrate, We Can Give This Charlatan Bitch Cancer.
You are so negative you probably have halitosis. And live a miserable life.
Do you really want to wish cancer on someone? A cancer survivor at that?
You are a stupid bitch.
No, YOU are lying. Facts and truth matter, not pseudoscience that knowingly leads people to pay attention to false narratives and irrational emotional appeal — which is the entirety of Hay House. Get your head out of cognitive dissonance, stop having Stockholm Syndrome, get some LOGIC and REASON in your life and enjoy. We’ll PRAY for you. There.
Metaphysics has been around since the beginning of time, and based on the fact everything living or not has energy. Even basic science agrees with that fact. Redirecting energy to be more positive is also something used in basic science, so why don’t you allow those of us that can do this with our own energies everyday the consideration that we can make it work and you can’t. Your own inability to redirect your energy is your short coming. Blaming someone who brought metaphysics to main stream for those of us able to harness our energies and redirect, for your short coming and lack of abilities is sad.
Poppycock. “Redirecting energy to be more positive” in the manner you describe is not used in science, “basic” or otherwise. Scientists use double-blind, reproducible studies because they have to rule out confirmation bias. That’s considered a weakness. Our brains are amazing things. The placebo effect is real, helping us feel better and/or draw a conclusion that happy thoughts healed that which had been healed by other means.
That doesn’t change the fact that a grifter who decides to make millions of dollars taking advantage of our believing nature, our insecurities, and our drive to find meaning and patterns, is a terrible person who has caused pain and suffering—and, yes, blown a little happy sunshine up our keisters—and is unworthy of respect and accolades. (And, by the way, death doesn’t accord her those things, either.)
And now I have spent all the “energies” I wish to spend on this. I do wonder why you feel qualified to label energies good or bad. By your definition, your own comment is “bad” and must therefore cause you suffering. I hope you’ll get well soon.
Thank you, Anonymous, for your insightful analysis.
A key point here is that I don’t actually believe that I can wish a disease on anyone any more than I believe that I can cause my own. Do you?
BTW, how did you know that “I am a stupid bitch” is my daily affirmation? You must be psychic!
Thanks for sharing.
Since I am someone whose life has been incredible affected by Louise Hays teachings I would say that there is definetly a psyco emotional connection to all dis-easse…
That you don’t want to hear what is being said does not mean that it isn’t so… to see the connection would mean to have to look deep into the self and then to do some work…which is seems that you are not willing to do.
I work with many people and when they do look at the connections and see that there is some truth to what is being said – healing on a very large scale occurs…
and the fact that you would wish cancer on anyone says more about you than anything else…
om shanti
forgot to mention that I was diagnosed with lupus and asthma…both in Louise’s book are about not wanting to live….
that was in 1990 I have been dis-ease free for the last 13 years and my doctor finally said that if she didn’t have all my tests in front of her – she would say that I never had Lupus at all….and THEY…the medical field say it’s not curable…
go figure
anonymous, I am very happy to hear that you no longer suffer from lupus and asthma. This is a wonderful thing, no matter what belief you ascribe to it.
You’ve made the assumption that I haven’t looked deep inside of myself and done some work. You must think I’m riddled with disease.
Again, I am going to say that I do NOT believe that I can wish cancer on someone. It is wishful thinking as is apparently my wish for would-be mystics to understand the use of irony.
In any case, if in the future you come down with a cold or get a wart, I hope you will not feel that you have failed in your vigilant affirmations.
Since you use the “om” I assume you have done enough study to see that in certain philosophies “dis-ease” is seen as a natural part of life.
By the way, I know people who have lupus and asthma. I must go tell them that Louise Hay says they don’t want to live and they need to be positive and say some affirmations. By your “reasoning” they should start feeling better, right?
Just as a side note: just as the placebo effect exists, so does spell-check. Please avail yourself of it for the good of all.
omg chancre
Don't you think it's interesting that the placebo effect exists? It's actually a scientifically inexplicable phenomena that occurs when a human being believes they should get better.
This is the technical term for when a human being emotionally and psychologically heals their body. You're right, there doesn't seem to be any reason involved in it – maybe intellect isn't as important as you seem to think. Maybe love is more important than how clever you think you are.
This poster appears to have suffered because of never reading Berne’s Games People Play, It won’t cure him/her but at least a little self awareness might help
A second reading of the original post gave me a clue to what this posters problem was….mental herpes? Had it checked? Mind Fuck? Sounds like a worrying aftermath of a bad night with a less than clean partner playing on your mind perhaps? Doctors can check for that, dont “self-help” it, ask one to take a look down below!
To Kathcom, care to test it?
You said “A key point here is that I don’t actually believe that I can wish a disease on anyone any more than I believe that I can cause my own”, want to pick a mild one? If so, try standing in front of the mirror for 30 straight days and tell yourself you look terrible, have a cold, droopy Rheumy eyes, flaccid skin, a down expression OUT LOUD, Just once a morning should do the trick…then let us all know in 30 days time please the outcome! Did it happen? I bet you never reply!
Dear Anonymous the Third:
How’s this for a deal? I’ll stand in front of a mirror and wish myself sick if you’ll stand in front of your mirror and wish yourself smart.
Since it’s cold and flu season anyway, which one of us has the better chance?:
Hey kat, after reading your post i did find u negative but throughout ur responses very funny.
Ur humor may be a defence mechanism or your way of putting up a wall… possiby but i’m no expert.
Many ideas co-exist and some are completly opposite, but that dosent mean one or the other is wrong.
I do believe in Louise Hay’s theory that most disease starts as psychological stress and builds from there. The reason i believe this is because we are all made up of energy (even our scientists have proven this… look up quantam physics… if thats how u spell it, but google it anyway.
Our psycological stress causes energy blockages in certain parts of our bodies… usually this is not too threatening and causes muscle aches and pains, but when its experienced over a long period of time it can cause disease.
Like i said there are many different perspectives and just because i believe in this dosent mean your wrong… but like everyone we need to keep an open mind. Its all good to be critical and ask questions and dive into theorys but once you become cynical, you close yourself off from some great discoveries and realisations.
Thanks
Marz
@Marz: Thank you for keeping an open mind when reading my post. I’d like to clear up a couple things, though.
Bandying about scientific terminology does not give credence to Louise Hay’s “theories.”
Scientific method involves developing a theory, testing it and attaining reproducible results.
What Louise Hay trumpets is pseudoscience or “magical thinking.” For example, the placebo effect can be very real. But it is inherent in us and not summoned by Louise Hay in order to profit from it.
Her quackery is that much more egregious for preying on our gullible nature, the part that “wants to believe.”
One other thing that I’d like to address is the abuse of the concept of opinion. Having differing points of view is all well and good in the absence of fact. When a fact is in evidence, opinion becomes irrelevant.
One can have an opinion regarding that fact, such as, “I’m angry that I was bamboozled by a liar.” But one cannot ignore the fact in favor of opinion unless one is a fool.
I’d recommend the book Why People Believe Weird Things as a good way to start one’s education when the lessons of high school level science have failed.
Best of luck on your wonderful journey of learning.
Oh what a lovely day to have come upon your much-needed post (and responses).
On the one hand – positive affirmation alone cannot change the world (and I use this one word "world" to encompass many things – war, famine, disease, global warming, economies, cancer, difficulties in relationships…)
On the other, one's attitude does change HOW one deals with the world.
That said, reading your brialliant insight into Lousie Hay's book has made me smile. That smile is making me feel better than when I went looking for someone – ANYone – willing to mock her and shine a light onto her pseudoscience quackery.
I – a long-time cancer survivor of a heinously painful disease that is terminal with NO KNOWN SURVIVORS – understand EXACTLY what you are saying and thank you with my whole heart for saying it.
I could kiss you, you beautiful and not-so-stupid bitch!
http://www.alotoflife.com
@vkingsley: I have to admit that when I read your comment, I got a lump in my throat.
My mother is also a cancer survivor who was told on many occasions that her life stress caused it and positive energy, raw food shakes etc. could cure it. They meant well but they only added more stress and guilt to her situation.
I am so happy that you understood what I meant in my post and that I would never wish a terrible disease on anyone. Louise Hay may believe in her own quackery but she has done a disservice to her readers. She is no better than a peddler of snake oil to me.
Self-help can be a wonderful tool when it is not used to bludgeon those who suffer.
You've made my day. Thank you.
Kathcom, you did your research only halfway through. You quickly snapped after not liking one of her books of affirmations. Louise herself explicitly and clearly emphasizes that affirmations alone will not be useful UNLESS they are followed by action.
Louise teaches about common sense things. These are ancient old teachings "you are what you think". I'm not going to defend Louise or waste any more time explaining to you this concept … it is as old as the ancient civilizations and their philosophers.
Here's a rhetorical question for you: Why did you buy the book then, if you are so opposed to "positive thinking"? Surely, you leafed through it before purchasing???
@Anonymous: Yes, I read the book all the way through. Although I suspected early on that it was garbage, I gave it a chance because I believe that even the most ridiculous person, place or thing has something to teach us.
In this case, it taught me about one of our well-meaning, human frailties: gullibility.
We are most decidedly not "what we think"– would some of us have chosen the circumstances of our birth, our perceived defects or financial insecurity? According to Hay, the answer is yes. Read the book. We choose our parents before we're born. Do you believe that?
I can understand that you don't want to explain a concept "as old as the ancient civilizations and their philosophers." You can't because you have no idea what you're talking about. Which philosophers have you read lately?
By the way, just because a belief is "ancient" does not make it true. We learned the earth is not flat and that the sun does not revolve around us quite a long time ago.
Though your question is rhetorical, I will answer it. I bought the book looking for help. There is good advice to be found amid the dross. A dose of critical thinking might help treat your case of magical thinking.
Barbara Ehrenreich has a new book out called Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. I can't give you an opinion about it yet as I haven't read it. But it may be just what the doctor ordered.
I completely agree with what you are saying as my mother blamed me for getting critically ill, which is a terrible mind fuck. There are all kind of factors contributing to illness, most importantly environment. It truly is a fucked up premise Ms Hay had.
Seneca, Aristotel, Epictetus to name a few . If you find it too dificult to follow, you can always turn to Ovid's poetry (ancient Roman poet). I would hardly compare their work to that of man's first guessing theory that the world is flat.
In any event, Louise takes some concepts a bit too far, but none of them make me feel bad or angry or anxious. Your blogs on the other hand have a pretty negative energy, my dear.
So, it's time to say good-bye.
p.s I know you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to be a successful writer kathcom. so go ahead…say it in the mirror to yourself…"I am a great writer. I am a great writer. I am a great writer" I know you want to…
@Anonymous: Congratulations on naming philosophers. Aristotel? Never heard of him: did you Googel him?
As Epictetus said, "First learn the meaning of what you say, then speak."
Negativity seems to be ascribed to those who do not suffer fools gladly. I consider myself in good company.
As an adult, I know that repeating an affirmation will not bring it into being.
As a writer, I know that one does not waste one's best material on idiots. So I'll be economical here: Go fuck yourself.
I believe that eveyone should say what they want to say..and yes, a lot of Louise Hay's info is very broad in its diagnosis causes, if that is the right way to say it, but a lot of it is rooted in some truth. My personal truth.
anger and negativity can give you "knots in your stomach". Fear can cause you to hyperventalate. Stress over a very real situation can cause the muscles to tense up and blood pressure to go up, so how does it not make sense that our body MANIFESTS SOME OF THE EMOTIONS THAT WE FEEL, THOUGHTS WE THINK THAT ARE TRANSLATED TO OUR BOIDES? I mean, it just seems super obvious to me.
I think that your hate, and self hatred must be really blinding you to the possibility of the concept.
But venting your negativity can only be a good thing for you, getting it off your chest and hopefully not sending it towards anyone in particular.
We are ALL ENERGY MAMASITA. OUR BODIES, THOUGHTS, ETC. WHY WOULD THEY ALL NOT RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER..CHECK YOUR LOCAL SCIENCE CLASS AND GOOD LUCK
Dear Kathcom,
I was just watching "This Emotional Life" on PBS and there was a passing and, as you might imagine, not particularly favorable reference to Ms Hay.
I recollected her saying to gay folk that bad attitudes led to AIDS. And as my laptop was sitting right there next to me, I wondered what would happen if I googled "Louise Hay" and "pseudoscience."
I had the good fortune to stumble upon your blog and this post and the mostly delightful exchanges that passed for a time starting in July, 2008.
I want to thank you for your clear thinking and your good writing. And that I'm glad such things have some sort of half life out in the aethers…
It does appear you were right, of course, as despite whatever negative energy was directed toward her a year and a half ago, Ms Hay is still around pitching her nostrums.
On the other hand I have learned a valuable lesson. Apparently blaming the victim has bags of money in it…
Sincerely,
James
Thank you, James. I almost closed this to comments a short time ago after receiving a particularly noxious comment. I don't like to censor anyone but gave myself permission to ban the hateful diatribe from by blog.
In a way, my exchanges with commenters give a much fuller picture of what I think about this issue than the post could. I'm glad you found it entertaining for the most part. (Probably up until I lost my temper and dropped the f-bomb? I was at the end of my tether.)
And thank you so much for your kind words. I'm delighted that you found my post and took the time to read it. I checked your profile and look forward to reading Monkey Mind. I've described my thoughts that way for some time now.
I find it comforting that you say what you dare and are daring enough to fight back when people find it necessary to call you names. I find it odd for them to insult you, you didn't insult them personally or come a trolling on their blogs and spout ditto headed blather. IRONICALLY enough, these readers should have been overjoyed. You said what you felt was true, in YOUR affirmed reality (which is in a FACT reality) which is all that loony psycho money grabbing bitch has ever proclaimed. These with such dis-ease weren't asked to be comforted by you, nor supported in any statements that pulled their fantasy land out from under them. I find it more than curious in this time, the inner world has turned back time to Copernicus, where "I" is the center and everything revolves.
I applaud you. You are also funny as hell!
I just wanted to thank you. I could not find my Hay book and was surfing the net for the information. Even though it may not have been your intention you provided me with the information I was seeking. Again thank you for including some of Hays dis-ease philosophies on your site.
I'm a bit late to this Hay discussion, but hell, it's not stopping, so I'm not sure if my late timing matters. I hate these quacks. I will join you in your "If We All Concentrate, We Can Give This Charlatan Bitch Cancer" affirmation. I'm concentrating! Mind over matter, mind over matter!
I am also a blogger who challenged one of these "Heal Your Life Certified" quacks. This one threatened to sue me if I didn't publish her comment. (Blackmail, anyone?) She runs a registered charity in the UK which needs money to train people for free "counseling". I wonder, WHAT kind of training?!
Thanks for writing. When I posted this, I'd been blogging less than a month. I was surprised at the reaction. Now I know that comments on many sites are often ignorant, illiterate and impassioned beyond reason. Critical thinking is in short supply. I don't remember the terrible things one person said that caused me to delete his or her comment. I'm curious now.
But I wasn't threatened with a lawsuit. I'm sorry you were. Did you publish her comment? Would you mind telling me the name of the post? I'd like to read it.
To continue this crazy discussion, I actually found your blog post after searching for "Louise Hay cosmetic surgery", and you were in the first page of results.
I received today an email from Hay House, and saw a picture of Louise Hay and it really shocked me to see how obvious her face lift (or lifts) was (or were). I found an older interview from 2011 where she looked normal for an 80 something year old, and suddenly this. Even though I haven't bought her books, am have become cautious with positive thinking as being THE only way of life and healing, I felt somewhat betrayed.
I have been into self help a lot and, although I actually never read Louise Hay, I used to be very much into positive thinking, law of attraction, and such. I still believe that I am responsible for myself, and that includes my attitudes and how I react to things. That also includes my illnesses in some way. I also noticed that my body is stronger when I feel good, and I get more sick when I don't.
But I also noticed how much this way of looking at things can produce guilt. You are sick? It's your own fault because you weren't "positive" enough. You lost your loved one? You must have attracted it somehow. You don't have enough money to pay your bills? Well go back to your affirmations! And that's a huge downside of this whole movement. I am not saying Louise Hay herself does that – I don't have enough evidence to back it up, but many people use these principles as weapons to explain the world and everyone else's lives, and to replace empathy and caring.
I enjoyed reading this blog post and the subsequent comments, and even though I would probably not go as far as you in my thinking, I appreciated your way of looking at it, and your great humor. :)
I don't know if you're gonna read it but I don't care. Louise says you should never feel guilty cause you always do what you're finding the best in the moment and not feeling guilty is the part of your healing. I don't believe in all her theories but I've listened to her recordings for a month and it always makes me feel much better.
Hey there, Anonymous, are you picking on another reader's comment? That's not very nice. Let me ask you this: if Louise says "never feel guilty cause you always do what you're finding the best in the moment and not feeling guilty is the part of your healing," what exactly do you need healing from?
It may sound harsh but I don't owe Hay or anyone respect for something simply because it makes them feel better. So do belches, cookies and warm puppies but they're much harder to monetize.
Thank you very much, Armelle, for your thoughtful comment. You have a more gentle approach than I had when I wrote this. I've thought the same things. I hope that shows beneath the surface layer of contempt I have for this woman. Of course, she can do anything she wants to herself, in my opinion. But if she wants to "help" people with her quackery, then I feel I must respond. I'm glad this became a forum to air that.
My mother and I have both had breast cancer in the years since I wrote this and we've heard our fair share of well-meaning people asking if we used deodorant, drank diet soda, had stress (who doesn't?), etc. I'm sure a couple people reading this might think my "negativity" caused my cancer. As humans, we search for meaning. If we can codify something, we can control it or, more often than not, ignore it completely until it touches our own lives.
I think cancer is a little like pregnancy. My friend said she couldn't believe how many strangers would reach out and touch her stomach. It was as if her body was no longer her own, that others had a right to weigh in. (And forget about how La Leche League castigated her when she couldn't breastfeed.)
With cancer, everybody has an opinion and feels no compunction about sharing it. Everything happens for a reason? I spent plenty of time trying to explain that the reason it happened was that shit happens. Eventually, I stopped. It wasn't helpful to me or to anyone else.
I never knew where the opinions would come from. Why would our veterinarian(!) feel compelled to tell my husband about alternatives to chemo? He kept his cool but if I'd been there, I would have told her this: "You know who talks about alternative therapies for cancer? Someone who's never had cancer. Or Steve Jobs–why don't we ask him how that worked out for him? Oh, that's right, we can't because he's dead. Now pull that thermometer out of my cat's behind and mind your own business!" At least, I hope I would have said that. The corrosive nature of this "help" is that it gnaws at us. In our weakened state, these suggestions can take us to a very dark place.
Wow, I think it might be time for another post. You've inspired me. Thanks again for taking the time to read my post. I hope you'll come back for the more lighthearted fare. :)
"Hey there, Anonymous, are you picking on another reader's comment?"
I'm not. Armelle wrote that "this way of looking at things can produce guilt" so I wrote why she shouldn't feel guilty.
"what exactly do you need healing from?"
I didn't mean any particular disease, I meant healing from negative emotions, etc. I know you think it's bullshit.:)
"So do belches, cookies and warm puppies"
Exactly. And I guess you byu them. So what's wrong about buing Hay's products?
What's wrong with you? Why are you so negative?
My bullshit meter is high while my bullshit tolerance is low.
He Hello, I was thinking the Same when I tried to read her book…Of course, it helps to be positive, but…
LISTEN TO THIS!!!
In my case. Burns (caused by an accident) are – According to Hay -caused by ANGER, RAGE…?????????…I was a child…not knowing how flammable petrol was…
My cure would be to love people…Sure…I do…but I still have burns…
She can put her book in her ass…(yes, Now I am ANGRY…Bestseller…What??? Its a Shame…Shame to be human…
Good writing Kath, though I agree she does not deserve Cancer, but she should ask us for forgiveness about being a charlatan…(At least I think she is) and paying back all people that bought her shit! (PS Hay…I am sorry that you had such a bad childhood…but dont take advantage of it…by scamming…)
Cheers,
I love your post. That woman is a quack. I found your post because I was needing some validation of the feelings I couldn't express,this morning.
Let me explain: A dear friend of mine, who inspite of being a very smart woman, was an avid Louis Hay's reader… She was only 48 years old and led a healthy life style, she was a kayak instructor and soccer coach, among other sports. Never smoked, never drank and was super fit. She had been doing Mrs Hay's affirmations for more than a decade and swore by them. She firmly believed in the power of those affirmations to keep your health or recover it when you lost it. Out of the blue, a month ago, she was diagnosed with a rare form of uterine cancer. She was scheduled for treatment and fell violently ill, they ran more tests… That's when they discovered that the cancer had metastasized to almost every organ in her body and her bones. The chances of survival where so slim , she chose comfort measures only and in a couple of weeks she died. She had an amazing wife and gorgeous 10 year old girl. Very sad. This morning, her wife (who is my friend on FB) posted a photo of a page of Mrs Hay's book with an affirmation for health, and the following: "This is a reading from a book by Louise Hay, an author ____ read over and over again even when she was well. I have not let those pages rest as these are messages from ____ to me to help heal. Day by day…" Of course, I wouldn't be inhumane or rude to point out that Mrs didn't actually help her ONE bit and how can you even have any faith in her affirmations…. perhaps if __ hadn't trusted so much in those affirmations she would have gotten check ups more frequently and maybe prevented her death. She was a very holistic health person and used traditional medicine only in life or death instances. So , I needed to vent . :)
Thank you for writing. Your friend's wife must find comfort in Hay's words. It has to be incredibly frustrating for you to stay silent when you're grieving for her, too. I'm glad you could vent your feelings here. But I wish it didn't have to be under these circumstances. I'm very sorry for your loss.
@kathcom: Before starting let me say that am a born skeptic and therefore my opinions here are unbiased.
I both agree as well as disagree. Agree because she has oversimplified ancient wisdom with her mantras (affirmations) ignoring other factors and taken it way too far as if they are the only panacea for all ills plagued by mankind. On top of that her out rightly bogus claims that one chooses one's parents further raise doubt on her credibility.
Having said all of that, I would put my faith and won't call her a quack because of the following reasons:
I am a Multiple sclerosis sufferer and long time (over 2 decades) gastric sufferer. If you look at the reasons mentioned by her, they are gripping fear for gastritis and mental hardness, iron will and fear for multiple sclerosis. This matches with my experiences so far.
Living in a hot country India with abundant sun, healthy traditional cooking and where multiple sclerosis is literally unheard of, how could I get it? Except for the psychological causes that she mentions which match with me 100%.
Same is the case with gastritis. In my teens when my father underwent a serious nervous breakdown which was followed by mental harassment at school by a teacher coincidentally during the same period that wrecked me mentally. Abuse scared the hell out of me and surprisingly my gastric troubles began from that day up until now!
Same with her philosophy on thoughts and circumstances that I agree based on my experiences. But as I said in the beginning, she has oversimplified citing that we are responsible for all the adversities that befall on us, let's say an accident!
Therefore my verdict would be, she is not a quack completely though she might have exploited human gullibility to an extent!
She also contends that you can cure migraines by masturbating. She is a dangerous quack who ripped off tens of thousands of desperate early-years-of-AIDS patients who had nowhere to turn. Burn in hell, opportunist bitch.
All I can say is OMG! I read this post and laughed my ass off. I especially loved the part about spending your $12.99 on the bad face lift.
I am following my Google search entitled "Louise Hay crap" and found your blog. Thanks a million for a hearty laugh that almost made me blow coffee out my nose.
A dear and loving friend of mine pulled this book out the other day during a discussion on why she believes she caused her own cancer. It hurt my heart to think that she believes that. I call it a serious mind fuck with no way to win the cosmic game. Anyhow, I argued that I have enormous bunions that were inherited. She looked up foot problems and said it meant I was having trouble walking away from something. A bunion is a bone deformity independent of shoes, bad thoughts, etc. I doubt any amount of affirmations is going to make my bones re-align and politely dismissed the notion as inane at best and downright dangerous at worst.
I grew up in an insane alcoholic family. I would have liked to run far and fast but guess my bunions got in the way.
Thanks again for a great post.
thank you for bravely addressing this bullshit issue! I searched Louise Hay bullshit and you came up. For just recovering people from new age bullshit like me, posts like yours are tremendously helpful – thank you!!!!
I was horrified and disappointed to see Louise Hay got plastic surgery. The only reason people get it for cosmetic reasons is because they hate how they look. She obviously wasn't suffering from some disfigurement so she got it for cosmetic reasons. How FAKE! How horrifying that people look up to her and then she went and did that! Way to be a hypocrite Louise Hay.
Hi. I came across this post after searching Louise hay is bullshit to see if anyone else wanted to get up on that soapbox as I do. Good on you for standing up and having a say. So why would anyone choose parents that abuse or are sex offenders or murder their children. Or how does a baby or small innocent child manifest cancer!
"Self-help can be a wonderful tool when it is not used to bludgeon those who suffer." I agree with this 100% I had Tuberculosis a few years ago. I caught it after living in a house with an African guy, who was really skinny and coughed a lot. I was also run down from working 60+hr weeks.
Now, I thought I had "man flu" so still went to work thinking it would pass over. Eventually I had to move back to live with my mom. We didn't really get on at that point in life and she didn't want me living with her as we tended to argue.
I was interested in Louise Hay as a 15yr old and she got into it as well after she was reading through my stuff. I should state this because I had some strong belief in Louise Hay prior to my having TB.
So to cut a long story short, my mom upon finding out I had TB and before I was quarantined in the hospital, whipped out her copy of You Can Heal Your Life and waved it in my face saying that Louise Hay said I got TB because I was "wasting away from selfishness".
Now, we had our problems but I was a good friend and I was a good worker and always have a coin ready to help out the homeless and would help a stranger to the best of my ability if ibwas called to. But she berated me with that accusation of selfishness, which, as I was very ill, got stuck in my psyche. All these years later and it still sticks with me to the point I have a hyper responsibility form of OCD having to check everyone is ok. This causes me daily problems. It's like post traumatic stress disorder or brainwashing. Brainwashing is best done when the person is in extreme psychological or physical distress and I certainly had both, as I very nearly died.
Of course my mother has a Louise Hay style excuse for her actions saying it was "just something on her journey" and she is sorry if I am taking it badly but she doesn't feel the need to apologise.
Like it's a matter of shoddy interpretation and not obvious fact that you don't verbally abuse someone, let alone your own flesh and blood, with accusations of selfishness when they are on the edge with a condition as horrible as Tuberculosis.
I'm sorry you went through that but happy that you've recovered. People can be at their worst when dealing with illness or anything that is utterly out of their control. I think Hay is comforting for people in that way; she helps us feel we are in charge.
Unfortunately, that also makes us guilty when something terrible happens to us. That's why I have such a strong reaction to those who say we "manifest" our own diseases.
It makes it a moral issue, about weakness instead of the scary reality that things go wrong with our bodies. It's part of life. The fear of mortality is part of life, too, and it can make people act in strange, hurtful ways.
When my mother had cancer, she went to another neighborhood to buy diet soda–she's diabetic–because she'd routinely have people ask if she drank diet soda and tell her it causes cancer.
I'm not saying diet soda is good for us but even if it's bad, don't tell a woman about to have a double mastectomy that she's been, in effect, killing herself with it.
Then there is the "stress" argument. If stress causes cancer, why don't we all have it?
When I was ill and, predictably, there will be people who say it happened because of my "negativity"–again, why don't we all have it?–my husband took our cat to the veterinarian(!) and she proceeded to tell him I shouldn't have chemo. He let her have it.
I'm glad I wasn't there because those kind of comments were devastating to me. Chemo isn't a panacea; it's not for everyone. But it was my decision and what I felt gave me the best chance of survival, in my circumstance.
Now I say, "You know who talks about alternatives to chemo? People who've never had cancer." But I didn't have any armor against those comments when I was weak, as you were when you had tuberculosis.
When my friend Annie was pregnant, strangers would walk up and touch her belly. She told them not to touch her and they acted like she was a terrible person. I think illness is a little like that.
Everyone thinks it's okay to weigh in, have an opinion, tell you about what's happening to you. It's as if the illness makes your body fair game; everyone can metaphorically touch you.
When it happens with a stranger, it's awful but you can walk away and recover from it. When a family member does it,you can't really walk away without the possibility of destroying the relationship altogether.
It's a horrible situation and I'm sorry your mom hurt you. It sounds like she may have gotten as close to an apology as she is able to do. Maybe she fears the self-recrimination that may follow if she admits she's wrong. I think most of the time we don't consciously think about the reasons we react to people and things the way we do. But what the hell do I know? Having my own mother issues certainly doesn't make me an expert. I hope you guys can work it out and, again, I'm glad you pulled through.
Well…I've read through this and I guess I need to add my two cents. First of all, I am no fan of Louise Hay, but certainly do not feel the vitriol posted here. As for the original blogger, get help. You are a very angry and hateful person. Also, while you are clearly not uneducated, your lack even a fundamental understanding of the principles to which Hay refers, as well as any knowledge of current research, which has shown a strong correlation with positivity and improved immune response. As well, data show that what we think and feel most assuredly impact health. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an EVIDENCE-BASED intervention that teaches an individual to change negative self talk and to correct cognitive distortions. CBT has been shown to be particularly effective for depression, anxiety, and PTSD – and ALL of those PSYCHOLOGICAL disorders have higher than typical incidences of co-occurring physical health issues, including lowered immune response (so more vulnerable to contract an illness or disease), cardio-vascular disease, AND cancer! So "woo woo" it's not. But while we're on the topic of woo woo…just thought I would interject some irritating woo woo from my view – god, Jesus, a virgin birth, rising from the dead, demons, heaven and hell – but hey, whatever blows your hair back. If it makes you feel positive, data tell us, it works.
As for the clinical psychologist or counselor who braved about belittling his clients for their belief in the woo woo, and tell g them in no uncertain terms that it is garbage, I wish I knew your name so I could report you for ethical violations. You might trade your snark for a little Rogerian positive regard.
Wow, thank you for your comment. Interestingly enough, capitalized letters do not imbue words with special powers.
CBT is a form of therapy–see, it's right there in the "T"–that gives us the tools to make better decisions today about our lives and change our reactions to events in our past or present.
It is not magic. It is done with a trained professional not with a Post-It on one's bathroom mirror.
Affirmations are like tricycles: cute and simple but incapable of taking you very far. I suggest you seek out a better conveyance.
As for Carl Rogers, "unconditional positive regard" can be quite destructive. When people believe that everything they think has value, they pollute the world with their ignorance.
Where was that unconditional positive regard when you wrote your comment? I fear your own immune response must have plummeted when you wrote it. I hope you have room on your mirror for one more Post-It.
Louise Hay and her followers do make people angry. I get that.
There is definitely an emotional aspect to disease, as well as the physical. Medical science admits this. Louise Hay's problem is she thinks she knows specifics, when the science doesn't! And that the emotional is the ONLY cause…..she has turned out a lot of loopies and unfortunately I work with some of them.
I represent abused and neglected children in child welfare cases. I have seen horrific things in my line of work & to think that one of these children might one day read these books or hear any of this woman's irresponsible, negative, hateful, unsupported drivel breaks my heart & makes me enraged. This crap doesn't even rise to the level of pseudoscience – it's toxic falsehoods dressed up in a palatable manner for our "soul searching" first world society. Go tell a starving child in a third world country they deserve to die of starvation because of their negative thoughts. This woman believes Holocaust victims brought it on themselves (she actually stated this in an interview). I see your attackers use simplistic examples of how they've benefited from good thoughts to defend her teachings but no one is addressing the hard questions when you take her teachings to their logical conclusion (see starving child example above or any of the horrific acts of genocide or terrorism in this world). By the way I came across this post when I googled "Louise hay crazy" :) gotta love it. You're post & responses were well written & hilarious. I've read nothing else on your site (yet) but if you haven't become a professional writer yet you should definitely do so.
Of course our emotions impact our health. Of course! They have proven this….but what Louise Hay Hay and other quacks say is that they know EXACTLY WHICH THOUGHTS CAUSED WHICH ILLNESS….Really???? Ok….so lets pretend this is true, can we now, having assumed that, say, anger towards your mother causes cancer (an example only) that pretending we don't feel angry towards our mother will reverse the cancer….really???? Really???
I think yes, emotions impact the health…but no way some quack has mapped specifically how they do so and no way can reversal of the said emotions reverse the illness.
It's bloody stupid. It's uneducated and it makes me sick (LOL). And I am psychic….really….
I, myself, have done a "Googel" search ? of Louise Hay, and luckily, I stumbled upon this beautiful post. I have been laughing my way through your responses. I'm 18, barely an adult, and I admit I turned into a bit of a self-help book whore. I've been suffering from horrific anxiety and panic attack disorder since I was 14. I take medication, which doctors see as a magical cure, it doesn't help me all too much anymore. i was looking for a great self-help book, me I stumbled upon You Can Heal Your Life. I immediately bought a used copy because of the hoards of positive reviews on Amazon. I opened it this afternoon and while I agree slightly on her "probable cause" of anxiety, but blaming terminal illnesses on desires to not be alive or pent up emotions, I think it's horrifying! I read the back cover and her "great deal of experience" especially when she cured herself after being diagnosed as terminally ill with cancer. It's terrible! So overall, thank you for making me laugh and for your great, truthful insights :')
Thank you for exposing the truth on horrible lie.
She never had cancer, was an alcoholic, hated HIV/AIDS patients, and is a complete parasite, and people need to stop quoting her on Instagram.
Even with my pea brain, it’s easy to laugh at the projection of your insecurity and luciferic cohabitation, outwardly. And the real kicker is; to pay for a domian for over 15 years to do so, is absolutely hilarious. So from one pea brain to another… Hahahaha *points at you*
Years ago, I wrote a post about a delusional, malignant narcissist who, even from her grave, continues to destroy friendships, families, and lives with her asinine assertion that we cause our own diseases.
I’m not certain how expensive you think it is to maintain a “domian” for fifteen years. It’s quite economical, really. I’m not sure you understand the concept of insecurity, either. If that were my issue, the first time I received a semiliterate screed about energy, metaphysics, or halitosis, I would have taken this down and tried desperately to live down the shame.
If even once a year, someone googles “Louise Hay” because of the pain she has inflicted, sees this old post, and feels understood, it’s worth the few bucks it takes to maintain this site. If you believe Hay, you must know that calling yourself a “pea brain” is terribly negative and will cause disease. You’d better get a full-body MRI, stat.