A necessary read for those with pain

books:


	• The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain John E. Sarno Grand Central Publishing, 1999 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 119 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

It's all in your head

The human anatomy is a marvelous organism, adapted to the ways of the world over hundreds of thousands of years, and extremely capable of self-correcting the damage in 95% of the injuries and disorders to which the body is susceptible--from whiplash to carpal tunnel syndrome to fibromyalgia to chronic fatigue syndrome to (more controversially) helicobacter pylori bacteria, hiatal hernias and Lyme disease. What about those folks who live in chronic pain, well beyond the normal limits of the body's requirements for healing itself? Will they stand to being told their pain is not "real"? Slim chance--in fact, the author would no doubt agree with them: their pain is real enough. But if the basis of the disorder is undiagnosable, or unmeasurable as far as the usual tests are concerned, then perhaps it's time to look with more than casual interest into the territory of the subconscious--its contents; its subversive, frequently irrational motives; its self-protective scenarios and clever evasive tactics.

In other words, Sarno questions whether the physician's common diagnosis for so-called "functional illnesses"--"somataform disorder"--is of any more use to anyone than the out-of-favor term "psychosomatic." The former term simply applies a specific, impressive-sounding name to a vague EFFECT; the latter at least attaches the word to a mind-body connection implicating a CAUSE.

Sarno's conclusions are often more suggestive than conclusive, his claims of cures more conspicuous that the methodology by which to achieve the cure or stop the pain (it's hard to take overly seriously the back-cover testimonials of relief experienced by celebrities ranging from Howard Stern to Anne Bancroft, at least based on the limited evidence in this book). Nevertheless, the author's notions frequently make sense, and if, to the displeasure of some, they reclaim the wisdom of Freud, perhaps it's high time the towering Viennese intellectual be taken seriously in ways other than vilification.

Watching PBS trot out another medicine man at public television fund-raising time, prescribing everything from vitamins to fish oil to St. John's Wort to amino acids to Effexor and Wellbutrin in order to "change the structure of the brain" (those nasty chemical imbalances of the brain, addressed through altering the neurotransmitters--and now it's extended to the gut--those unfriendly bacteria, addressed by eating the right manufacturer's yogurt with the right friendly bacteria) is enough to make you question the quality of the information that is currently being dispensed as a "public service" to the community.

Knowledge is power, and for that reason Sarno's book is at least a useful beginning toward a lasting prescription for extinguishing seemingly endless, all-but-life-ending pain. If you're a doubter, there are some rather simple tests to put Sarno's (and Freud's) ideas to the test. Let's say you're feeling absolutely awful, generally and specifically--headache, anvils in the chest, pokers in the gut, brain fog comparable to a surgical anesthetic, sharp, jabbing pains in your neck, sides, and back as though your worst nemesis is playing you like a voodoo doll, and then there's always that darn sore heel. Now think of someone you love or feel dependent on--a parent, a dog or cat, an only son or daughter. Imagine receiving without the least bit of preparation a message in the middle of the night informing you of the worst--the unthinkable. Now imagine the degree to which those aches and pains of just a few minutes ago matter to you, deserving to reclaim prime-time real estate in the subconscious territory formerly reserved for its sole VIP resident. Granted, the pain may be no less, but isn't it remarkable how it travels to other places, making itself felt in entirely different ways?

The mind is a powerful thing--exceeding the little surface area we call the brain, or conscious memory, and indeed capable of having its way with matter. It laughs at booze, pills, probiotics, "health" foods, vitamins, "smart" drugs, antidepressants, exercise and meditation therapies of all sorts. It can destroy, or perhaps merely facilitate an ongoing problematic condition, but it can also repair. To deal with its powerful potential--for harm or healing--you need to be able to match it with knowledge of your own. Sarno is a good beginning (and so are some first-rate "Eastern" thinkers, like Chopra, when he chooses to be).

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THIS WORKS !

I was cured of carpal tunnel, back and knee pain, plantar fascitis, most of my hip pain, etc., etc.

This book works-is very simple

If you are having chronic pain issues that are not the result of an injury or real disease then this is the book for you !

Also read book by Fred Amir

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A necessary read for those with pain

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.

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Hard to believe

My physican "prescribed" this book for me. I have suffered with chronic hives and deep edema for over ten years and have tried every kind of doctor and specialist I could find. I've had many tests and alternative treatments and a dizzying array of prescriptions. Nothing worked for long.

Dr. Sarno's method is absolutely amazing. Utilizing his method, which is really just learning about chronic pain, my hives disappeared before my eyes. I had a method of dealing with them, making them go away, before I even finished reading the book with no drugs, no equipment, nothing. It was and is absolutely amazing...totally incredible.

I suppose it is normal to be skeptical of the claims Dr. Sarno makes (and I am corroborating) regarding the power of the mind to heal the body. All I can say is that out of sheer desperation I tried it and it worked for me. It has worked for many others as well, and it just might be the answer you need to your pain/health problem.

An excellent follow-up book is Pain Free for Life by Dr. Brady out of Florida Hospital. (Not that a follow-up is necessary, but it his helpful to help flesh out the ideas that have just been taught.) He gives a six-week program to implement much of what Dr. Sarno teaches and delves into journaling from a psychoanalytic standpoint. I recommend this as a follow-up rather than Dr. Sarno's videos, which are a light treatment of what is contained in the Mindbody Prescription.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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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