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

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Pain disorders have reached epidemic proportion in the United States. At the same time, pioneering physicians like Dr. Sarno have identified the primary role emotions play in causing illness. As a result, we stand on the brink of beign able to understand and treat many disorders withou drugs, physical therapy, or sugery.

The Mindbody Prescription teaches you: How emotions stimulate the brain to produce physical symptions How TMS -- Tension Myositis Syndrome -- a a major cause of back, neck, shoulder, and limb pain How repressed emotions can lead to petpic ulcers, colitis, tension and migraine headaches, hay fever, and a host of other ailments How new, sometimes disabling pain conditioins like RSD -- Repetitive Stress Disorders - carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, andpost-polio syndrome are all part of TMS, and can be treated successfully How understanding the way you mind and body interact can produce record results.

Your mind and body are one, inextricably linked. You are stronger than you know and have more power over your body than you probably realize. But you must learn how to tap that wonderful potential. That is the goal of The Mindbody Prescription: to provide you with a powerful weapon in the war on pain and disability.

SYNOPSIS

Dr. John E. Sarno's Healing Back Pain is a New York Times bestseller that has helped over 500,000 readers. Continuing the research since his groundbreaking book, the renowned physician now presents his most complete work yet on the vital connection between mental and bodily health, The Mindbody Prescription. Musculoskeletal pain disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with most doctors failing to recognize their underlying cause. In this acclaimed volume, Dr. Sarno reveals how many painful conditions--including most neck and back pain, migraine, repetitive stress injuries, whiplash, and tendonitises--are rooted in repressed emotions . . . and shows how they can be successfully treated without drugs, physical measures, or surgery. His innovative program has already produced gratifying results for thousands of patients. The Mindbody Prescription is your invaluable key to a healthy and pain-free life.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"John Sarno has changed my life and the lives of all the people to whom I have recommended him. He was healing patients with the mindbody connection long before anyone else I know. He is a true miracle worker." — Anne Bancroft

"My life before Dr. Sarno was filled with excruciating back and shoulder pain. For twenty years I also suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder and thought my back pain was due to my height or some sort of spine problem and that my OCD was a chemical imbalance and only treatable with medication. But all my thoughts were wrong. Imagine the miracle in my life when in a matter of weeks my back pain disappeared. Imagine my shock when I applied Dr. Sarno's principles and never suffered a single symptom again. Quite simply -- I owe Dr. Sarno a lot." — Howard Stern

"For fifteen years, my life revolved around my back. I took time off from work, conducted meetings lying on the floor, and slept with ice bags. Could this be psychogenic? I had considered Dr. Sarno's idea preposterous, but ten years ago I was talked into seeing him. I haven't had back problems since. If Dr. Sarno is right about other psychogenic pain, America is wasting billions of dollars. What a tragedy." -- Correspondent, 20/20 — John Stossel