Letters

How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body

There are so many studies confirming the health benefits of meditation that it's a wonder it isn't as universal as brushing our teeth. PHILIP ROSOFF-HORNE Carmichael, Calif.

In your articles about mind and body and the effect of one on the other [SPECIAL ISSUE, Jan. 20], I was intrigued by the evidence that depression can worsen pre-existing diseases and may be implicated in the onset of others. I don't know, however, if pursuing happiness is the antidote to the seemingly widespread depression of our times. Having a moral purpose, ethics and values is what gives life meaning. Such a life will not always be happy--whose is?--but it will be worthwhile. And I believe the immunity-boosting value of living a moral life can have disease-fighting effects. RAISY WIESEL Montreal

As a massage therapist, i have seen improvement in people's health when they commit to at least two massages a month. By allowing the body to rest, one finds the natural tools to heal. I am honored to be able to help people achieve a healthier life. NEUSA MARIA SILVA San Diego

Your excellent essays on links between mental and physical health brought to mind Maimonides, court physician to Sultan Saladin in the 12th century. Comparing Maimonides' approach with the more traditional one of the Greek physician Galen, a grateful patient wrote, "Galen's art heals only the body, but Maimonides' the body and soul." HENRY WINTERS Columbia, S.C.

I was frustrated by your easy dismissal of French philosopher Rene Descartes's theory of mind-body dualism. This brilliant man did not contend that the mind had no influence on the body, or the body on the mind. In letters to friends who were ill, he urged them to keep objects that they liked around them to raise their spirits. His argument held that the mind was simply a different substance from the body. Even as scientists identify the various electronic and chemical signals of the brain, they cannot say with certainty how the signals function. Descartes's theory of the brain could not fully explain how it worked either. RACHEL WALLACE Montgomery, Ala.

Alternative-medicine proponent Dr. Andrew Weil recommends breath work (breathing deeply, slowly, quietly) as the most powerful method he knows to reduce anxiety. I agree. I am a clinical psychologist who had practiced for 29 years before I ever encountered breath work. For the 25 years since then, I have limited my practice to teaching breathing exercises to those who come to me with psychological problems. In just a few breathing sessions, people can easily and comfortably transform their lives and learn a technique they can use to let go of negative feelings so they truly heal. Breath work does more than just stop panic. It enables a person to become free of confusing, static attachments to the past. We should be teaching breath work in grade school. EVE JONES Los Angeles

Oh, for the good old days of Sigmund Freud! You reported that his understanding of the complexity and mystery of the human mind has been unsurpassed. He insisted that the human condition is more than mental health or illness, that it is both tragic and majestic in scope. We have better living through chemistry and self-help bromides for happiness. As a no-longer-practicing therapist, I have seen the rise of the so-called dramatic cluster of personality disorders. Have you noticed an increase in such disorders in our political and corporate leaders as we witness their unbridled narcissism and antisocial traits? LIBBY WEIN Los Angeles

No Laughing Matter

In his article "How We Get Labeled [JAN. 20], John Cloud stated that the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) helps categorize "all the ways America is nuts." Since it is no longer politically correct to make racial slurs or joke about physical handicaps, it would appear that the last bastion of acceptable derision is mental illness. By poking fun at rare conditions such as fetishism, this article ends up stigmatizing the millions who suffer from the entire range of mental disorders defined in the DSM and trivializing the scientific advances for such disorders. It is regrettable that TIME could not see the damaging effect this skeptical story could have on people with serious disorders. DARREL A. REGIER, M.D., DIRECTOR DIVISION OF RESEARCH AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION Arlington, Va.

Cloud did a much needed job of debunking the DSM. He objectively showed that the book and the process behind it are essentially political in nature and not medical or scientific. And none of us want our ailments to be diagnosed by a politician, do we? RIGGS ECKELBERRY Marina del Ray, Calif.

Beating the War Drums

You asked if war with Iraq could be avoided [WORLD, Jan. 20]. It could if President Bush would just calm down a bit. I understand that he is "sick and tired of games and deceptions" on the part of Saddam. But I am not sick and tired. And what about the other 280 million Americans? Are they sick and tired of Saddam's actions? Bush will not wait for the U.N. to do its job. This President thinks he knows better than the entire world. It is a shame. IRAN AUSLEY West Hills, Calif.

Is the U.S. misusing its standing as the world's greatest military power? With our arsenal, we are in a position to issue a worldwide ultimatum: any use of weapons of mass destruction by a country would mean an immediate response by the U.S. that would result in complete destruction of that country. Why wouldn't this tactic work? I doubt that Iraq or North Korea or any other nation would choose a suicidal approach. The fact that this was the situation between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. throughout the cold war might illustrate the idea's workability. ALEX G. COREY Weeki Wachee, Fla.

Bush says he'll explore every nonviolent means to prevent war with Iraq. During the Cuban missile crisis 40 years ago, J.F.K. and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev negotiated and compromised. Result: no war. It will be interesting to see whether Bush is a man of his word and follows through on his rhetoric. DAN MORIARTY Newport, Minn.

For Richer or Poorer?

If Bush's tax-cut program can be characterized as another gift to the wealthy and a boost to class warfare [NATION, Jan. 20], then I say bring it on! By no definition could I be considered wealthy, well-to-do, rolling in money or even affluent, yet I am 100% in support of the plan. Why? Because it's fair. It gives back to those who contribute to the system, and it recognizes those who plan and work for the future, as opposed to those who don't. JERRY SLASKE Wauwatosa, Wis.

I am a moderate who has been very impressed with Bush's strides in national security and the economy. This tax-cut-stimulus package is the right move to repair consumer confidence. The President is more concerned with long-term, substantial progress than with quick fixes that will make him look good on Election Day. Democrats claim that his plan helps the rich, but child-tax credits, the marriage-penalty reduction and that $300 rebate check will hardly do much for Bill Gates. I think liberals are shooting themselves in the foot. ROBERT MOON Cincinnati, Ohio

The Gift of Life

Kudos to governor George Ryan for commuting the death sentences of all the prisoners on death row in Illinois [NATION, Jan. 20]. America's barbaric death penalty is no deterrent to violent murderers. The execution of just one innocent person is not acceptable. The U.S. Supreme Court should abolish the death penalty. Life in prison without parole should be the maximum penalty, even for those who commit heinous murders. PAUL L. WHITELEY SR. Louisville, Ky.

Governor Ryan could not decide which men on death row should be spared, so he pardoned or commuted the death sentences of all of them. Commuting these death sentences is not compassionate. And it is certainly not fair to the victims and their families. These are the truly forgotten people, the ones who deserve compassion. FRED W. SANDERS Pasadena, Calif.

What Goes with Viagra

RE your item on the fifth anniversary of Viagra [YOUR TIME, Jan. 20]: When I asked my doctor if Viagra was compatible with taking the antidepressant Paxil, he said it was. And the beautiful part, he added, is that if the Viagra doesn't work when you are using Paxil, you don't care! BRIAN J. MULHERIN Augusta, Ga.