Suggestions Daily Bulletin

Every physician knows, or should know, from experience that the prestige he commands serves not only as a means of building up his practice, but also as a valuable tool for overcoming his patients' ailments. Ridiculous as the assumption may seem at a first glance, the way he speaks, his manners, his clothes, even his automobile are often influential in restoring people to health. A patient's faith in his doctor is frequently no less useful than the drug he prescribes. Most physicians do not quite comprehend the theoretical foundations of human prestige. Yet, in the last analysis, what is prestige but popular faith and respect? Is it not a form of auto-suggestion on a large scale, with the autonomic nervous system controlling the bodily aspect of the attitude? The same truth, though in a somewhat different manner, applies to the lawyer's practice and to the teacher's instruction. All of them cannot help but deal in suggestion and, for their own sake, should prepare minds for its reception. Let then the reasons for their influence upon people's minds be not merely a lesson of personal experience, but also a scientific fact of human psychology that can be utilized in a thousand ways to improve the effectiveness of professional work.