Caroline Myss Does a Reading on Oprah
In 1998, Caroline Myss author of Why People Don't Heal And How They Can appeared on the Oprah television show. The author claims to be a "medical intuitive" and is known as a pioneer in the field of energy medicine and human consciousness.
According to Caroline's Story, a biography found on www.myss.com, "The only information Caroline requires is the name and age of a patient and his/her permission. From that data, Caroline is able to profile the physical/psychological/emotional/and family history of the patient."
According to the Council for Media Integrity, "Caroline Myss claims to be able to divine illness by reading a person's energy fields. Such ability has never been verified under laboratory situations and is likely to lead to misdiagnosis."
Author and paranormal investigator Joe Nickell states in a review of her book, "Caroline Myss provides no proof of her alleged abilities. She intuits, of course, her intuitive power, offers only hearsay testimonials and anecdotal evidence as support."
On the aforementioned Oprah show, Caroline Myss did a reading on a woman suffering with lupus during which Myss told the woman that she had been sacrificing her spirit and her power in an effort to please everyone other than herself. Myss implied that the woman's physical symptoms were caused by her spiritual disorder.
After the Show
After the appearance of Caroline Myss, there were members of the lupus community who became outraged. Their feeling was that the reality of lupus had been minimized and misrepresented by the author in front of the vast audience that watches Oprah habitually. Members of the lupus community reacted by visiting the website of Caroline Myss and leaving messages in her guestbook which described their disappointment and disbelief in what she portrayed on Oprah. Shortly after, her guestbook was removed and replaced with a message that stated the large number of recent entries caused the guestbook to require maintenance. This action caused members of the lupus community to feel further violated because they felt Myss was taking away their platform and opportunity to respond.
About a week or so following these events, Myss appeared on a session of Oprah Online on America Online and attempted to retract her statements by saying her remarks had been misinterpreted. She claimed she was only speaking to that one woman on whom she did the reading and not to all people with lupus. Myss admitted that illness can be purely physical in nature and offered the following advice to people suffering with lupus or other chronic diseases:
- Find the best team of conventional physicians available.
- Find a teacher of yoga or meditation.
- Explore spiritual issues related to healing such as:
- forgiveness
- anger
- acceptance
- fear
- Keep abreast of all new research.
- Realize you are not to be blamed for your illness.
It is left for the public to decide if Caroline Myss was truly misinterpreted or if she altered her statements only after being confronted and challenged by members of the lupus community.
About Lupus
Lupus is one of the rheumatic diseases. People with lupus produce abnormal antibodies in their blood which target tissues within their own body. The chronic inflammation which is associated with this condition can affect the:
- skin
- joints
- heart
- lungs
- kidneys
- blood vessels
- nervous system
- other internal organs
When only the skin is affected, the condition is known as discoid lupus. When other internal organs are affected, the condition is known as systemic lupus erythematosus. Symptoms of lupus vary, but may include:
- skin rashes (often a "butterfly rash" or malar rash)
- arthritis
- fever
- anemia
- chronic fatigue
- hair loss
- mouth ulcers
- kidney problems
Symptoms of lupus usually first appear in women of childbearing age, but, can occur in children or older people. Approximately 8 times more women than men are diagnosed with lupus. The exact cause of lupus remains unknown, but experts believe that environmental and genetic factors are involved.
Related Resources
Sources: Caroline's Story: Biography, www.myss.com/bio.asp; Unproven Claims of Caroline Myss, Council for Media Integrity, April 23, 1998; Bestselling "Medical Intuitive", Joe Nickell, CSICOP News; NIH Publication No. 03-4178
