The Divided Mind

I've held off weighing in with my opinion of this interesting book because I am so divided...part of me says belief should be based in empirical evidence, but a larger part of me argues that science still doesn't have their thumb on the whole mind/body connection--and I'm not yet ready to land completely on either side. There is a lot of research going on that is showing more connection than conflict with these two opposing views. Since minds far greater than mine are on it, I feel perfectly fine with my fence straddling for the time being!

My experience with this book--it reminded me a bit of what I call the Secret Dilema: 'so, if I don't live in a mansion and drive great cars, does that mean I am not good at creating the life of my dreams?' And, the broad statements that suppressed emotions cause our physical pains ('is it my own inabilities that cause my disease?--wow I REALLY suck') were a bit condemming. The repeated reminders that, "the conclusions here are not based on arm-chair deductions. They are the results of many years of experience with thousands of patients..." almost seemed to disqualify some of the information contained in the book; and there is some good mind/body information here. Carolyn Myss has been writing on this subject for years.

I've read a lot of reviews (here and on other sites as well) that are "testimonials", and of course the counter-testimonials, the Freudians views, the Jungians, etc. Carl Jung said, "The shoe that fits one person, pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases." Apply that wisdom in choosing this book's philosophy for yourself. There is no way to say this is a good book, or a bad book...you'll just have to try it on, walk around with it, see how it feels.

Diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 10 years ago, I can truly say- this book is a miracle. I was in horrible pain when I downloaded it yesterday. Tonight I feel like I could climb a mountain. Actually I am pretty sure I did. I thought I had cracked a rib, and I planed to see my doctor in the morning. Now, I'm going swimming instead.
PLEASE - if you are suffering any pain - give this book 6 hours and 23 minutes of your life. You've tried everything else.

My Mother died last year. We didn't have a good relationship. I was at the grocery store this week trying not to see all the people buying Mother's Day flowers, cards , and gifts. Is it a coincidence that I was in my bed crying on Mother's Day - using my Ten's unit for the pain? I already knew that I had a lot of unresolved issues with myself and my life, but I really thought I was getting them nicely under control.
Because of "The Divided Mind" I feel a weight has been lifted off of me.
I will be buying a hard copy of Dr. Sarno's book. This is an abridged version - I want to read every word.
I know I sound insane. I remember seeing John Stossel on 20/20 saying Dr. Sarno cured his back pain. At the time I thought it was the power of suggestion.
Well- I definitely suggest you give this book a chance to change your life. What do you have to loose - except your pain?
I don't care if the pain comes back. I feel empowered to deal with it.
Happy Mother's Day - I have to go have a conversation with my brain now.

It's all in your head. Well at least a large portion of it is in your head. Dr. Sarno's TMS hypothesis just makes sense. If you were to combine Dr. Sarno's recommended treatment for muscular pain with the dietary advice from "The China Study" written by Dr. Campbell, then you would have a winning combination for a healthy and pain free life.

I think that a little Prozac, maybe some cyclobenzaprine, quite a few prayers to Jesus, a mostly non-animal product diet, a smoke free and booze free lifestyle, and some psychotherapy can go a long way to solving most peoples pain problems. I'm no doctor, but I do very intense manual labor and this combination has done miracles for me, and I haven't found a physician yet who would refute my winning combination, though there might be a few surgeons that would be disappointed at the loss of business. In the long run it will save you and your insurance company a hell of a lot of money to do a few simple things. Even if you take out the psychotherapy and talk to a priest or pastor instead....all the rest of my suggestions are pretty much low cost or no cost. If you don't like praying to Jesus or Allah, then Buddhist meditations are said to work very well also, they just take more concentration than I can muster; it's all the same brain mechanisms at work no matter whether you pray or meditate and it is all said to be beneficial no matter what book you read.

At any rate, non-Dr. Mike will get back to the book review, so any-who, this book was very helpful. Half of all injuries have no identifiable cause, but Dr. Sarno and his Freudian approach gives a treatment to this unknown other half. I also strongly, very strongly recommend reading "The China Study". The combination of these two books will change your health and your life for the better if you implement them into your lifestyle.

Wish I came across you in 2011, the most painful year of my life. I had to eat standing up and couldn't sleep at night because I didn't know whether to kick or be still just to shut my mind off the excruciating pain. I had bursitis, sciatica and neuroma, all on the left side of my body. I had MRI (they said I have herniated disc), 2 epidural cortisone injections to ease the extreme back pain, had the intensely painful nerve conduction study (normal results), 3 injections on my left foot and took all kinds of prescription medications and muscle relaxants which just left me dazed all day. I almost ran off the road one day so I decided all the madness had to stop. I got this book just when the right side of my body started manifesting the same pain I had on my left side. I was healed from day one just by listening to it. Thanks super Dr. Sarno.

I will listen to this book again and again so I can absorb every nugget of wisdom and practical advice it offers.

Yes, they were excellent.

I was astounded!!!

Paradigm Shift Book

This author is in a class by himself but "Rapid Recovery from Back and Neck Pain" by Fred Amir documents the effectiveness of Dr. Sarno's approach.

this is not a novel

not a novel

The material in this book is difficult for most people to understand and accept. Having the text as an audio-book helps with the appreciation and assimilation of the material. Still only one or two people out of twenty will have open enough minds to carefully consider the material and actually apply it in their lives.

I was very disappointed with this book. I only listened to the first couple hours. Dr. Sarno claims that many (most) illnesses can be attributed to psychosomatic causes -- the mind. While I agree that the mind plays a huge role in someone's health, this books seems more like an informercial than a documentary.

What bothered me most is Dr. Sarno's lack of evidence to support his claims. He does make a statement early on -- that experiments in this realm are problematic because of the difficulty in quantifying human emotions. I disagree! Many fields of science have to measure such things, and they don't use it as an excuse for not doing the work.

In the end, my sense is that Dr. Sarno is a Freud fanatic, and plays the same game of trying to create meaning by attaching labels to things.