The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain - Be Informed, Aware, Comfortable, and Safe!

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The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain

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Dr. John Sarno caused quite a ruckus back in 1990 when he suggested that back pain is all in the head. In his bestselling book, Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection, he claimed that backaches, slipped discs, headaches, and other chronic pains are due to suppressed anger, and that once the cause of the anger is addressed, the pain will vanish. Relieved Amazon.com readers call this book "liberating" and say "it sounds too good to be true, but it is true." Sarno has returned with The Mindbody Prescription, in which he explains how emotions including guilt, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem can stimulate the brain to manufacture physical symptoms including fibromyalgia, repetitive strain injuries, migraine headaches, hay fever, colitis, ulcers, and even acne. If these psychosomatic problems all sound a little Freudian, what with the repression of emotions in the unconscious, it's because Sarno unapologetically borrows from Freud for the basis of his theory and cites childhood trauma as a major source of emotional problems. He also says that his program is a "talking cure" of sorts, since patients must be convinced their pain is rooted in their emotions before healing can begin.

The book reads a bit like psychology text, with Sarno quoting from psychoanalytic theorists including Heinz Kohut and Graeme Taylor and the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition). Sarno walks through the neurophysiology of mindbody disorders, lists the symptoms of dozens of disorders that he believes are emotion-based, and offers a basic program for overcoming psychosomatic pain and illness. His recovery plan includes meditation and sometimes psychotherapy, including behavior modification, and stopping any medication or physical therapy. While Sarno's ideas seem radical, they were commonly implemented earlier in the 20th century, when psychoanalysis was at its peak of popularity, and they promise to become more accepted in our current era of alternative medical therapies and anger management. --Erica Jorgensen

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Customer Reviews

Rated

on 2008-09-19

After suffering a life tragedy about 8 years ago I started having unrelenting, debilitating back pain and spasms. I was given a myriad of tests and prescriptions, went to physical therapy and even when to a pain specialist. After a couple of visits the pain specialist recommended Dr. Sarnos book. I read the book all the way through and went back and reread the areas that pertained to my situation. Over the next few weeks my tension myositis disappeared. I have recommended this book to anyone I know with chronic, debilitating pain.

A few years later after my first pregnancy I suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome. After a while I remembered Dr. Sarnos book discussing carpal tunnel. I reread the book and my symptoms eased substantially.

Even if, like I, the pain does not go away I'm positive Dr. Sarnos' insight into the Mind Body connection will help those with chronic pain manage the stress induced symptoms.

Rated

on 2008-08-17

The chapters on psychology may be a bit too detailed for most people, nevertheless, this is an excellent reference book for understanding a variety of ailments and bodily pains, often misdiagnosed, but usually caused by tension. It is also a good complement to Dr. sarno's Healing back pain, which helped me recover from chronic pain in my back, legs, knees, feet, neck, arms, and hands, and completely disability. Here's a list of tension-related conditons Dr. Sarno mentions in this book that is often misgiagnosed:

Head, face, and mouth: dizziness, ringing in the ear (tinnitus), migraine headaches, Tempromandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), teeth grinding, canker sores, Bell's palsy, trigeminal neuralgia, Raynaud's phenomenon, spasmodic dysphonia

Back, hip, and leg: Degenerative osteoarthritis, sciatica, pinched nerve, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, ruptured or herniated disc, spondylolisthesis, the pryformis syndrome, osteoarthritis of the hip, spina bifida occulta, pulled hamstring, ondylolysis, fibromyalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, myofacial pain syndrome, post-polio syndrome, facet syndrome

Neck, shoulder, arm, and hand: osteoarthritis, pinched nerve, thoracic outlet syndrome (TOC), repetitive stress injury (RSI), whiplash, carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, tennis elbow, torn rotator cuff

Cardiopulmonary system: asthma, sinusitis, hay fever, palpitations, some types of high blood pressure, chronic bronchitis, tachycardia, mitral valve prolapse (heart murmur), ectopic heartbeat

Skin: rash, acne, hives, psoriasis

Gastrointestinal system: colitis, heartburn, hiatal hernia, spastic colon, irritable bowel syndrome, cramps and chronic diarrhea not caused by an infection, chronic constipation

Genitourinary system: prostatitis, frequent urination, frequent urinary tract infections

knees and feet: tendonitis, chondromalacia patella, torn meniscus, bone spurs, neuroma, plantar fasciitis, leg cramps, metatarsalgia, shin splints

Immune system: repeated colds and infections, yeast infections, Epstein-Barr virus (mononucleosis), hay fever

Other manifestations of repressed anger may be:
Ã Subclinical depression
Ã Depression
Ã Anxiety attacks
Ã Chronic fatigue syndrome
Ã Bulimia
Ã Anorexia
Ã Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia
Ã Some acquired allergies
Ã Chronic pain
Ã Lyme disease (a bacterial infection caused by tick bites; however, finding the antibody titer in the blood is blamed for the cause of chronic pain)
Ã Spasms of the diaphragm, chest, and lungs, leading to hiccups, angina, and asthma respectively.

This is definitely an excellent reference to have in one's personal library.

Rated

on 2008-07-25

The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain

I've read the other reviews for this book. Some are lengthy, erudite discussions of the fine points of Sarno's theories.

I think everyone who has really thought about it seriously, realizes that of course our minds can control our bodies to an extent. Sarno's basic thinking is that most diseases, chronic pain, etc. can be grouped together in one neat package, and by using his process, cures and relief can be affected.

In many cases, I think this is true. My only problem with the premise of the book is that if you accept his ideas and use his process, but do not experience a diminishing of pain, or a cure for a chronic condition, it's your fault for not doing it well enough, long enough, or correctly. This may not be his intent, but it's what I came away with after having read the book carefully, twice, highlighting important points.

I find it problematic that if a patient tries very hard, follows all the steps outlined, and still suffers, he/she will exacerbate the chronic condition or chronic pain because of guilt and feelings of failure.

This is one person's opinion. Take it for what it's worth. I will continue to meditate, use biofeedback, and rest in a dark room when I get a debilitating migraine. And, yes, I will medicate according to my pain doctor's directions, too.

Rated

on 2008-07-11

This book has completely changed the way I think about my physical and
emotional well-being. It was recommended to me when I was in excruciating shoulder pain, from which I am now completely healed, but it has also had a radical effect on me in other ways. I used to obsess over all kinds of physical symptoms, convinced that there was something wrong with me that the doctors weren't able to find. Thanks to Dr. Sarno, I'm now able to stop obsessing, and look for emotional causes.

My two favorite things about this book:
1. Dr. Sarno makes it absolutely clear that experiencing psychosomatic symptoms like pain do not mean that you are crazy or neurotic; rather, they are a normal, unconscious response that everyone experiences at some time and in some form.

2. There is not the slightest bit of touchy-feely woo-hoo in this book. Dr. Sarno is actually a very scientific, logical kind of thinker, and came to his conclusions because they make the most logical sense after years and years of experience treating patients.

I can't recommend this book, or any of Dr. Sarno's books too highly. If you're experiencing pain that doesn't quite make sense and that doctors haven't been able to help, you need this book.

Rated

on 2008-06-15

If you have suffered from back or neck pain, then this book is a must read. Dr. Sarno has practiced at NYU for many years and has helped numerous patients overcome these physical ailments. The book is clearly written with many examples, which helps the reader to understand the principles and identify whether these apply to him/her. Dr. Sarno works with the concept TMS, tension myositis syndrome, which is used to explain how pain (or other sensory problems) can occur in various parts of the body for no clear (conscious) reasons. He reviews the details of TMS repeatedly throughout the book, again using many examples from actual patients.

Dr. Sarno explains that many people experience relief of the pain through insight and coming to understand that their mind (brain) is responsible for the pain. Essentially, unconscious anger (and other emotions) create the physical response by decreasing blood flow and oxygen to the painful areas of the body. As the mind heals, so does the body. Dr. Sarno helps to heal the mind through this book by educating the reader about TMS and this process. Furthermore, he helps the reader understand that the pain is real (not imagined) and has an actual physical cause (i.e., reduction of oxygen) which is not dangerous or permanent. By reading the book, the mind's process for causing the pain is exposed and now rendered useless in distracting the patient from the underlying causes (i.e., anger). Therefore, the pain should decrease and stop altogether once this genuine insight is gained by the reader.

In summary, Dr. Sarno's book is extremely helpful for those experiencing real day-to-day pain. He provides hope for those who have suffered from pain, in some cases for years, and he helps to end the pain where others have failed.