The Phantom Effect
Doctors from the American Civil War and on through World Wars I and II discovered a phenomenon they called the Phantom Effect.
A soldier in battle would lose a leg or an arm, but would still think that the leg or the arm was attached for about 21 days. No one truly knows why. These “phantom limbs” become more obvious to doctors in wars, where surgeons see many soldiers faced with amputation of their legs or arms.
Doctor William Livingston was assigned to the Oakland Naval Hospital in World War II and treated this Phantom Effect. The soldiers would still feel pain in an amputated limb. Dr. Livingston used drugs like novocaine to block the pain, and kept records of over 1700 patients. He found that the pain would often come back after treating the initial pain, even though the leg or arm was gone.
When not specifically thinking about their recent amputation, patients thought that they could still walk or use their arms. They felt pain in arms and legs that were no longer attached and would complain of pain in a foot that was not there, or in a hand that was gone.
Even though there was nothing that could cause the discomfort but the soldiers’ own minds, they still felt terrible pain. Neurologist Dr. Silas Mitchell described this as bizarre, and this pain (which is real to the soldier) puzzles doctors because there is nothing to treat physically. Dr. Mitchell describes how even the strongest and bravest soldier would break down and not be able to control his emotions because of this perceived pain.
The Power of the Unconscious Mind
While we still struggle to figure out exactly why this phenomenon occurs (there are many theories), the important part for our discussion is how powerful the mind is and what it can create inside of us.
It appears that in most cases peoples’ minds realize that their leg or arm is gone in about three weeks. The Phantom Effect diminishes over time, although there are exceptions to this. Why would that be?
We are made up of habits and “our” knowledge. Let me give you an example: What if you had to think every time you picked up a pencil to write something? What if you had to think about how you were going to pick up a fork to eat, or consciously think about the process of dressing in the morning? We do so many things automatically that if we had to think about what we were doing all the time and relearn actions that we take in over the course of our life, we would never get anything done. Our mind takes over and puts us on automatic pilot for our own self-preservation.
Do you think younger people or older people are more adaptable to change? Why can children learn foreign languages easier than adults can? Do we get into habits, or “grooves” that we don’t even realize?
As our habits and our bodies grow older, they are connected by our unconscious mind, which automatically points us in a certain direction.
Is it easier to kick a bad habit when you are young or old?
If you want to change a habit in your life, why can you not do it?
Your self-image sees you as one thing, and it is just like a big ship in the ocean: If you have been going fast and then all of a sudden try to stop or change direction it takes a while.
It is the same for us. Unless we see the change that we want in our mind, reinforce the new thought and give it time to develop as a new habit, we revert to the way we wired ourselves. Otherwise, we would be a mess everyday.
If you want to change something in your life and don’t seem to be able to, there is a reason. You are wired to not change. With each passing year, more and more information has gone deep into your unconscious mind. This allows you to learn more things, without having to relearn everything you need to know again every day.
It is somewhat of a cruel hoax, because we need this ability in our minds, or we could not learn more, yet because we have these learned things ingrained in our mind it makes it difficult to change.
It is helpful that we have this capability because we can learn new things that we couldn’t if we had to learn each day how to get dressed, but it is an obstacle when we want to learn a new habit, or live in a new and different way.
This is why people have trouble making changes in their life. They want to, but the automatic organism in their brain will not let them. It will even get to the point where the old saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” comes into play. The only reason for that is that we have learned to deal with our world, and we do not want to change in the unconscious. It takes extra effort if we are going to change what is rooted in our life.
Our unconscious mind grows into what we are and who we are going to be, unless we reprogram ourselves. It is no wonder we cannot change even though we really want to.
Changing Our Habits to Better Our Lives
So how do we make adjustments in our life? We have to see a different mental picture from the one that is in our head now. We have to replant the seeds of learning if we want to make change in our life.
To change you must have a positive attitude, and understand that your mind sees risk in what you are going to do to change something about yourself.
You have to make a conscious choice to change, and then you have to change your self-image through your self-talk, and picture how your world will be different for you.
Then you have to know that you are going to probably have some failure in this change, because the original habit is so ingrained in your life. It takes time to make a change in the ocean of your mind, just like a ship that has to make a new turn or stop. Creating change is going to take time, and new information takes time to replace the old information that your mind recognizes and believes as true. Now you want to change that information.
You are going to have to decide to make a change in your goals and possibly your values and character if you are going to make a definite difference in your life.
To make changes becomes more difficult as you grow older, so you have to make use of the Four Dynamics to consciously make things happen.
The Phantom Effect is real to us not only in the loss of limbs but also because everything we do has some kind of effect because our minds are programmed a certain way, whether we know it or not. This Phantom Effect is seen in how we perceive ourselves, and how we see the outside world.
I hope that none of us will lose a limb, but we might want to create a new or different part of us. Creating a new pattern has to be done in a specific way, because you are fighting against your unconscious mind. What is in your unconscious mind can be difficult to change, but you can do it. Once you understand how your mind is working for you, and against you, and begin to change your dynamics, you will be on your way.
PS: This is some of what we talk about in our Self Image and Mental Models DVD and CD if you would like to learn more.
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