The Divided Mind is the crowning achievement of Dr. John E. Sarno's long and successful career as a groundbreaking medical pioneer. While his earlier books dealt almost exclusively with the common, virtually universal musculoskeletal pain disorders affecting the back, neck, and shoulders as well as various locations in the arms and legs, in The Divided Mind, Dr. Sarno goes beyond pain and addresses the entire spectrum of psychosomatic (mindbody) disorders. These include common stomach and bowel conditions (e.g., gastric reflux, irritable bowel syndrome), allergies, skin disorders, genitourinary conditions, headaches, and many more.

In Dr. Sarno's view, the crucial interaction between the generally reasonable, rational, ethical, and moral conscious mind and the repressed feelings of emotional pain, hurt, sadness, and anger characteristic of the unconscious mind appears to be the basis for mindbody disorders. The Divided Mind traces the history of psychosomatic medicine, including Freud's crucial role as well as his failures. Most important, it describes the psychology of the human condition that is responsible for the broad range of psychosomatic illness. Dr. Sarno believes that the failure of medicine's practitioners to recognize and appropriately treat mindbody disorders has produced public health and economic problems of major proportions in the United States.

One of the most interesting and important aspects of psychosomatic phenomena is the factthat knowledge and awareness of the process clearly have healing powers. Thousands of people have become pain-free simply by reading Healing Back Pain or The Mindbody Prescription, Dr. Sarno's previous books. How and why this happens is a fascinating story, and one that is sure to be repeated as readers experience The Divided Mind.

Library Journal

Sarno (rehabilitation medicine, NYU) follows his popular books Healing Back Pain and The Mindbody Prescription with a new volume that expands on those earlier works. Many people suffer severe chronic pain symptoms that do not appear to have a significant structural cause. Sarno's controversial pain philosophy contends that, in order to avoid severe emotional pain, the brain represses unconscious emotions by temporarily depriving oxygen to certain areas of the body, which causes actual pain symptoms. In these cases, the secret to stopping the pain is not based on surgery or other traditional medical interventions but, rather, on acknowledging the emotional conflicts. Sarno's latest offers additional examples of patients who have been helped by his methods. While much of the basic material is covered in his prior publications, Sarno has updated the information and included six lengthy chapters written by doctors who embrace his treatment philosophy. Their case studies help to strengthen his arguments. Given the popularity of his previous books, this is likely to be another best seller. Recommended for all public libraries.-Tina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Biography

John E. Sarno, M.D., is a professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine. He has been practicing medicine since 1950. Dr. Sarno is the acclaimed author of Mind Over Back Pain, the number one New York Times bestseller Healing Back Pain, and the bestselling The Mindbody Prescription. Dr. Sarno lives in New York City.

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