One of the most interesting areas of research in health care over the last decade is the role of forgiveness in healing.

In the article “Forgiveness in Health Research and Medical Practice,” the authors point out that “forgiveness is an ancient concept. It is a mark of compassion, love and caring, and is enshrined in all the great religions as a gesture of supreme value . . . and is a natural concern for the healing professions.”

The notion of forgiveness as a theological concern is now moving into the world of clinical medicine and bedside patient care. And there is an increasing body of evidence suggesting forgiveness may be one of the underlying paradigms that promote biological and physiological change, and ultimate healing.

“Forgiveness research” is now mainstream medicine. Harvard Medical School, Scripps Research Institute and others are funding the development of fulltime programs of research into the mind-body connection.

We know there are intimate connections between what we “think, feel, and believe” and how our bodies respond to illness, disease or stress.

Clinical practitioners have seen the devastating effects of repressed anger, hostility and unwillingness to forgive.

It leads to what I call road rage of the body — a plethora of diseases and disasters waiting to happen. Heart attacks, ulcers, strokes and neuromuscular problems are just the tip of the iceberg. I believe many diseases may have a component of anger at past wounds that makes the job of health care professionals difficult until these aspects are addressed.

Forgiveness seems to have three important effects to consider.

*  The first is truly letting go of wounds — real or perceived —caused by others. This seems to produce measurable anatomic and physiological benefits.

Brain scanning done before and after simple meditative forgiveness exercises shows remarkable beneficial effects on brain function, white blood cell action, inflammation and immunologic responsiveness.

Our bodies seem to be hard-wired to forgive others. Evolutionary biologists postulate certain evolutionary advantages because holding on to anger clearly has a negative effect on individual and community survival curves.

*  The second effect is one all religious traditions teach and honor. To find our true center where healing occurs, we must forgive ourselves first. We have to make amends as it is called in Alcoholics Anonymous — for the transgressions we committed.

We all have places where we need to hold ourselves lightly — to be accountable, but also gently let go of the hurt we have caused others.

Forgiving ourselves is difficult, but studies now affirm that unless we can let go of that guilt, we set our bodies up for unfortunate biomedical consequences.

*  The third effect of forgiveness is its role in medical malpractice litigation. Studies have confirmed that medical malpractice suits are not usually triggered by bad outcomes or medical mistakes but by distrust and lack of communication.

A major study recently showed that one of the strongest, most proactive acts a physician can do when a mistake is made is to honestly address it with patients and families, asking their forgiveness when appropriate.

 The risk of litigation seems to be reduced by the human act of forgiveness, which is a quantum shift from the past, when mistakes were not addressed frankly.

Forgiveness is important in our lives and in the healing of the sometimes frayed patient-physician relationship.

Helping patients move toward healthy forgiveness of themselves and others does not require sophisticated expensive testing. but it is foundational to the practice of medicine. It requires physicians to have a willingness to listen and gently learn from what patients say is important in their lives. 

 Michael Attas is a local doctor, a medical humanities professor and an Episcopal priest. E-mail him at Michael_Attas@baylor.edu.