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Social and psychological aspects

The following articles address some of the social and psychological challenges unique to the Marshall Protocol (MP).

Social aspects

Talking about the Marshall Protocol with others

Main article: Talking about the Marshall Protocol with others

Struggling with chronic disease can strain the fabric of even the strongest families and relationships. Like those recovering from any other disease, patients battling chronic inflammatory disease want and need to have support from family members. Building that support has proven easier for some patients than others.

Most patients have learned that the best evidence for the effectiveness of the Marshall Protocol (MP) is to get well.

Support groups

Main article: Support groups

The Marshall Protocol (MP) is a challenging multi-year therapy. As many MP veterans can attest, the chance to talk to a more experienced patient can significantly improve the odds of treatment success. While some patients may prefer to limit themselves to the online forums, an alternative possibility is that of a face-to-face support group. While there are currently only a few support groups, that can change over time. Patients who are interested in building a community of MP patients should seriously consider starting a support group.

Concerns about contagiousness

Main article: Concerns about contagiousness
Related articles: Familial aggregation, Transmission of bacteria and onset of chronic disease

The high rates at which the Th1 diseases aggregate in families as well as communities implies a strong contagious component. Given that the Th1 pathogens are transmitted between people, patients naturally ask themselves, “How much am I making my family sick? How much is my family making me sick?”

Psychological aspects

Stress

Main article: Stress
Related article: Psychosomatic explanations for disease, Anxiety

Not unlike vitamin D metabolism, the human stress response is governed by a sophisticated hormonal system, one which is also dysregulated in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. Successful management of both stressors and a patient's stress response can temper disease symptoms as the Marshall Protocol (MP) is facilitating recovery from disease. These diseases cannot be cured or resolved through lifestyle modifications including “stress management” any more than HIV, tuberculosis, polio, or any of the other forms of infectious disease can.

Physical stress or trauma has also been accepted as a partial contributor for several chronic diseases. However, psychological or physical stress does not appear to play any greater role than many factors which drive disease. There appears a difference between stress causing disease and stress being one of many factors which can influence the progression of disease. Other factors such as the presence of microbial pathogens appear to play a more prominent role.

Maintaining a proper attitude

Main article: Maintaining a proper attitude

Maintaining a proper attitude may help to ease mental strain of doing an often difficult treatment. A positive attitude includes:

  • The desire to recover health instead of merely palliate symptoms.
  • A conviction of the merits and validity of the Marshall Protocol and Pathogenesis. Between the Knowledge Base, the MP study site, Bacteriality, and all the papers which discuss different aspects of the MP, there should be enough information available for any patient to make an informed decision about the MP.

Patients have reported that other attitudes have also proven beneficial as they have done a difficult treatment.

Notes and comments

Last modified: 01.02.2012
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