"Forgiveness Therapy" may help fibromyalgia
Can the simple act of forgiving treat fibromyalgia pain?
orgiving nuns may reap rewards
The Benedictine nuns who responded to the loss of one of their sisters in a collision between their car and another driven by an allegedly intoxicated driver by forgiving the driver surely did so out of the goodness of their hearts and devotion to their faith.
But the nuns may also reap some benefit from their forgiving attitude. Forgiveness, it seems, may help keep a person healthy.
Recent studies exploring the potential physical and psychological effects of forgiving oneself and others have found that forgiveness may have cardiovascular benefits and may improve outcomes for people with spinal cord injuries, for instance. An older study found a correlation between people's inability to forgive and the severity of their chronic low-back pain. Forgiveness therapy has been investigated as a possible intervention for people with fibromyalgia. While there's no definitive evidence that forgiving will make you live a longer, happier life, the body of research points toward such a notion.
For more about the connection between forgiveness and health, read this. And here's a nine-step guide to forgiving -- not always a simple task, but one that could pay you back in spades.
Has forgiveness played a big role in your life or helped you manage a difficult situation? Please tell us about it in the comments section.
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | August 5, 2010; 7:00 AM ET
18 months ago
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