The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.' So said Voltaire and we have all seen evidence of this assertion. We know that when a poorly patient believes they are likely to get better, this vastly increases the chance that they will do so. And even the most empirically minded doctors grudgingly agree that when a pessimist receives a prescription, they rarely respond as well to it as an optimist! No matter what malaise assails you, you can at least partially cure it with self-belief.