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AUM (1936) - 357:
357. There exist self-styled invalids who suggest to themselves all the symptoms of disease. But there is a still more dangerous case, when a man has in himself the germs of a disease, and instead of opposing it he gives in to it and deprives himself of the possibility of recovery. In the first case it is possible to act by means of suggestion, for there is no real disease. But in the second it is far more difficult; the man himself hastens the process of disease. He becomes the slave of his sickness and tries with all his strength to aggravate the symptoms of the disease. He constantly observes himself, but not in a desire to recover. He falls into the deepest self-pity and thus drives away every possibility of suggestion. The man is even offended and angry when spoken to about the possibility of recovery. Thus he can reach a dangerous degree of depression which cannot be transformed into a rising strength. This acts as a counterenergy; and the man deprives himself of his basic value - striving toward self-perfection.
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