The Secret is...

...that positive thinking won't help you recover from illness, according to an NYT op-ed.

Now, as an avowedly EX-Christian Scientist, I'm all for throwing cold water on magical thinking. Sloan is entirely correct when he says, "It is difficult enough to be injured or gravely ill. To add to this the burden of guilt over a supposed failure to have the right attitude toward one’s illness is unconscionable."

At the same time, I think his picture is incomplete. He doesn't mention the word "stress" once. It's pretty uncontroversial that stress has a negative impact on the immune system and plays a role in a number of chronic illnesses, and positivity DOES help reduce stress. Sloan only really focuses on cancer, and while there may or may not be a link between stress and cancer, the study he cites looked at personality traits (extroversion and neuroticism), not mental habits.

So positive thinking may not help you recover from illness, but it's probably still good for your health.