[Hope: its goals, chances, and limits]

After centuries of dualism in science it has become more evident now that our mental experiences are linked to processes in various parts of the organism. There appear to exist strict and most probably bidirectional relationships between psychic processes and the biology and chemistry of the physical sphere. To answer the question "Why hope?" it would be more reasonable to look for a better quality of life with illness emphasizing the comfort of freedom in coping with disease, and in spite of disease. Hope may serve as a catalyst for positive transformations, as an accelerating factor in healing processes, as a trigger of the specific energy of personal existence in such a way that the program of intentional optimism is carried beyond the mind as an order for extraordinary mobilization in various systems and parts of the body. Hope in this sense presents itself as a self-active element of therapy producing effects that are similar or greater to those of chemical substances introduced into the body. One should expect that the physician will fulfill the difficult obligation of causing the patient to believe in the success of therapy and in the sense of life. The front for the creation of hope should be as wide as possible, but also internally coherent. The greatest value should be attached to words of good, warm climate of meetings, an aura of unselfishness, and to physical--almost touchable --proximity.