Can Fam Physician. 1984 Jan;30:125-9.
Belief in the healing power of faith is widespread, and is receiving new support because of the holistic health movement. However, reports of faith healing are uncommon and always involve changes in symptoms rather than in disease. Unanticipated remissions probably occur more frequently than they are reported, but often they may be ascribed to misdiagnosis or to the fact that disease progresses more slowly than expected or even regresses in some patients. When they are sick, patients are more likely to pray and to seek spiritual assistance, and such improvements in their health may thus seem to result from faith. Faith-especially an uncritical acceptance of medical authority-sometimes has negative effects. Patients' unquestioning compliance is not trust; it is an abdication of personal responsibility. Physicians also must maintain a healthy skepticism so that they do not accept all medical explanations without questioning them.
信仰的治疗力量是普遍存在的，并且由于整体健康运动而得到了新的支持。然而，信仰疗法的报告并不常见，而且总是涉及症状的变化而不是疾病的变化。出乎意料的缓解可能比报告的更频繁发生，但通常可能归因于误诊或疾病进展比预期缓慢甚至在某些患者中消退。当他们生病时，患者更有可能祈祷并寻求精神上的帮助，因此他们的健康状况的改善似乎是由于信仰而产生的。信仰——尤其是对医学权威的不加批判的接受——有时会产生负面影响。患者不假思索的顺从不是信任；而是放弃个人责任。医生也必须保持健康的怀疑态度，以便他们在不质疑的情况下接受所有医学解释。
