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The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain Kindle Edition

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,635 ratings

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Learn how to relieve chronic pain for good with this life-changing New York Times bestselling book.

Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. Musculoskeletal pain disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with most doctors failing to recognize their underlying cause, leaving patients desperate–and still in agonizing pain. 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.

Broken down into three sections, Dr. Sarno takes the reader through the psychology, physical manifestations, and treatment of Mindbody Disorders.

Informative and accessible,
The Mindbody Prescription is a revelatory book that gives hope to long-sufferers of physical pain–that they may regain a feeling of comfort and safety in their bodies.

"My life was filled with excruciating back and shoulder pain until I applied Dr. Sarno's principles, and in a matter of weeks my back pain disappeared. I never suffered a single symptom again...I owe Dr. Sarno my life."" - Howard Stern
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From the Publisher

mindbody prescription cover, john e. sarno
long illness cover pain free for life cover the memory code cover conquering eating disorders cover
Long Illness Pain Free For Life The Memory Code Conquering Eating Disorders
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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

Review

"He has cured thousand....I recommend this book highly."―Benjamin J. Saddock, M.D., professor and vice chairman, Department of Psychiatry, NYU Medical Center

"My life was filled with excruciating back and shoulder pain until I applied Dr. Sarno's principles, and in a matter of weeks my back pain disappeared. I never suffered a single symptom again....I owe Dr. Sarno my life."―
Howard Stern

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FA5SJS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grand Central Publishing; 1st edition (March 15, 2001)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 15, 2001
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 785 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0446675156
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,635 ratings

About the author

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John E. Sarno
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John E. Sarno, M.D., is Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, and attending physician at the Howard A. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Medical Center.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,635 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book helpful for relieving pain and stiffness. They find it easy to read and understand, with clear explanations and examples. The book's methods are effective and have a high success rate. Readers mention it makes them more at peace with stressful situations.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

177 customers mention "Pain relief"166 positive11 negative

Customers find the book helpful for relieving pain and stiffness. They say it offers practical prescriptions to help reduce aches. Readers mention walking all day without pain, working on computers without pain, and experiencing relief from headaches after reading the book.

"...I read it in 2 days and find that my headaches improve somewhat just reading this book, and the stories of people who had similar or worse headache..." Read more

"...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..." Read more

"...book is Dr. Sarno's evident compassion for his patients and people in chronic pain...." Read more

"...My brain gave up trying to use that as a strategy. The back pain went away, including the permanent tightness in my neck and shoulders, including..." Read more

156 customers mention "Readability"148 positive8 negative

Customers find the book easy to read. They say it explains why physical pains occur and provides useful protocols. The book is described as an interesting read with a worthwhile premise.

"If you have suffered from back or neck pain, then this book is a must read...." Read more

"...It's also a quick, easy read, so it doesn't take much effort for a lot of reward. Highly recommended." Read more

"...Was this book worth reading? Yes, absolutely. Would I consider it the ultimate book on the matter? No...." Read more

"...So - yes the book is worth it and will likely provide benefit...." Read more

148 customers mention "Insight"137 positive11 negative

Customers find the book provides good information and helps them reduce pain and anxiety. They find it enlightening, helpful, and say it changed their lives for the better. The book is universally applicable and based on experience truths.

"...I find the story incredibly interesting and I pick up a copy of MBP just out of pure curiosity, not even thinking that it could potentially be..." Read more

"...The book is clearly written with many examples, which helps the reader to understand the principles and identify whether these apply to him/her...." Read more

"Very helpful on my personal journey to reduce pain and anxiety. It's also a quick, easy read, so it doesn't take much effort for a lot of reward...." Read more

"...prescriptions to sufferers of pain, speaks to its elaboration of a timeless truth." Read more

71 customers mention "Ease of understanding"57 positive14 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They say it's clearly written with examples, making sense. The author's ideas are simple and logical, making the book an in-depth read with worthwhile concepts.

"...The book is clearly written with many examples, which helps the reader to understand the principles and identify whether these apply to him/her...." Read more

"...It's also a quick, easy read, so it doesn't take much effort for a lot of reward. Highly recommended." Read more

"...No more pretty sentences. No more orchestrated thoughts brought together to form a pleasing and meaningful sentence...." Read more

"...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..." Read more

47 customers mention "Effectiveness"44 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's method effective. It has a high success rate and proven results over many decades. The concepts and treatment methodology are easy to understand and follow, providing gratifying results. Many report feeling 90% better after a month and 100% after 6 months.

"...for women too. It is very important to note that he has a high success rate that can also be linked to the screening process...." Read more

"...I don't quite understand it, but -- like gravity -- it's very powerful...." Read more

"...The fact that this work still offers such powerful, practical prescriptions to sufferers of pain, speaks to its elaboration of a timeless truth." Read more

"...by the pain sufferer but his method works IF the concepts and treatment methodology are understood and followed...." Read more

30 customers mention "Emotional content"30 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful for coping with stress and anxiety. They say it makes sense from a psychological and biological perspective, and is good for those with mental health issues like anxiety and depression. The book is encouraging and relatable, helping readers become better people and happier.

"...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..." Read more

"...Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that his treatment includes dealing with fear...." Read more

"...pills, probiotics, "health" foods, vitamins, "smart" drugs, antidepressants, exercise and meditation therapies of all sorts...." Read more

"...however the point is always the same: TMS is a practice of distracting your from unconscious rage, and that education and awareness can work..." Read more

15 customers mention "Sarno'"15 positive0 negative

Customers praise Dr. John Sarno's book. They describe him as a great doctor and physician.

"...Dr. Sarno is an amazing man and a superb physician. I now believe that I understand more of how he works his magic...." Read more

"...It's a travesty. But it goes on. Dr. Sarno is a good man and a genius, in my opinion...." Read more

"...Dr. John Sarno is one of the most humble and honest doctors I have ever seen, which is not very common in the medical field...." Read more

"This book by Dr John Sarno is wonderful , and goes along with everything I've learned already by studying his work online and through others who..." Read more

Great read!
4 out of 5 stars
Great read!
Healing the body, healing the pain was a great book. Dr Sarno’s book is encouraging and very helpful!
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2023
    Background: I've had headaches most of my life, and remember them becoming a bit more consistent/intense around age 25 (I'm currently 35). I had a deviated septum and a lot of sinus issues and thought those might be a cause. Around age 31 my headaches were probably 1-1.5x weekly and quite strong, and I was determined to find the cause and do whatever I could to rid myself of them.

    I asked my ENT about my "sinus headaches" and he told me that these are probably tension headaches. "Do you work at a desk sitting like this all day?", "Yes", "Yeah those are tension headaches, I'll give you some exercises and also prescribe some sumatriptan for the ones that are migraines." (Important disclaimer: see a doctor and rule out serious physical causes. If your doctor diagnoses you with tension/migraine/sinus headaches, then this book might help you).

    Over the next 1.5 years I try everything, exercise, yoga, foam-rolling/lacrosse ball work, standing desk, special glasses, improving posture, tracking my diet for potential triggers...etc. Most of these things don't work, some, like yoga and lacrosse ball provide temporary relief, but my headaches keep getting worse. At this point they're 2-3x weekly and bad, sometimes im in bed with an eyemask on for the whole day or more, taking lots of ibuprofen, caffeine pills, excedrine migraine and occasional sumatriptan. I use mentholated pain patches on my neck/back and even temples, and I have 5+ other remedies I use. I have some form of pain or shoulder tension that precedes a headache every single day, and every single day I fear it will turn into a full blown headache. At this point it is affecting every aspect of my life.

    I decide to seek out a book, and come across "Heal your Headache" on Amazon as the top rated headache book. I pick up a copy and read it, cliffs are "Quit caffeine, red wine, and dark chocolate, plus a huge list of 'triggering foods', and cold turkey off medications because they do more harm than good". I read it in 2 days and find that my headaches improve somewhat just reading this book, and the stories of people who had similar or worse headache patterns being cured. This is my first clue that the condition isn't 100% physical. I also find myself reassured that the amazon 4-5 star reviews say it helped them immensely, but the 1-2 star reviews don't say "I tried this the best I could and it didn't work" but just generally say "this is too restrictive" or "this book is pseudoscience with no RCTs". I decide I'm going to try the diet and other advice of this book (I never actually tried it, due to discovering MindBody Prescription and trying that instead to great effect).

    It's around this time I come across a twitter thread from a guy named Josh W. Comeau, talking about his experience using Dr. Sarno's method to cure his elbow pain and avoid an extreme surgery (google 'josh w comeau personal experience with RSI'). I find the story incredibly interesting and I pick up a copy of MBP just out of pure curiosity, not even thinking that it could potentially be applied to headaches. In the book, like many people it helped, I see myself on every page. I also notice he briefly mentions headaches as a form of TMS, so I say screw it, I'll give it a shot. I start out still very skeptical that this can be applied to headaches, but I commit to at least pretending I believe it (this is essential, give yourself permission to believe). One other thing that helped me is that the skeptic in me decided to check Amazon reviews, and I found nobody who gave a 1-2 star review says "you know, I was skeptical but I gave it my best shot, and after 4 weeks it just didn't work for me". They all call it junk science, say it lacks evidence, or that Sarno doesn't tell you what to do.

    The first thing I do while reading the book is I stop doing any type of physical practice to try to reduce tension or improve my headaches. I even take it to the point that if I'm on the couch or seated at a desk typing, and I feel that familiar tension start to creep into my neck/shoulder, instead of adjusting or shaking it out, I intentionally remain in that position and remind myself that this isn't the cause.

    As I'm reading I go ahead and buy Schacter's MindBody Workbook and I make a few notion docs with Sarno's affirmations, and the stories of every person I can find who claims their headaches were improved by treating it as TMS I do the journal daily, reread the book a few more times, read the success stories every few days, reading guides and stories on tmswiki, and start doing all the things I had been avoiding for fear of causing a headache.

    I had stopped swimming, because getting water in my ear/nose "caused my sinuses to seal up". On flights I used special earplugs so the sudden pressure change wouldn't mess up my sinuses. Also my wife is from Mexico and, while there, if we spent too long in the 90 degree sun, I'd get a headache/migraine, so I started pushing back on that idea as well. All of these headache triggers were confirmed as valid by my ENT who advised I avoid those activities. I had listened to that point, but now I decided to try Sarno's advice and not limit myself physically. We went swimming with our nieces and I dove in the pool, did flips without holding my nose, and was intentionally reckless with ingesting water, and my sinuses stayed completely clear. In fact my sinuses stopped sealing up, and since then I've been able to breathe better than any point in my life.

    The experience that really sealed it for me though, was about 5 days in, I started to have a headache near my right temple. I did as advised and focused on my thoughts/emotions rather than anything physical, and I also said to my brain 'I know what you're doing and it's not going to work, now give me oxygen and open up my blood vessels near my temple', and the headache went away. Not two minutes later, I had a headache start forming at the back of my head. This is something that had never happened, my headaches didn't move, unless it was gradually over hours. I had read about this kind of transfer happening in other people's experiences, and I, now feeling more empowered, repeated the same process, and the pain dissipated. Unbelievably, five minutes later, I felt a gastritis pain in my stomach. Gastritis is something I had had 3-4 bouts of over the previous 3 years, and had treated with omeprazole. Before that point, I had never considered it as a possible manifestation of TMS, but I repeated the process and it went away. Finally, a few minutes later, I rotated my head and my neck popped and got stiff. This had happened to me roughly every other month for around 5 years, and I thought it was some form of pinched nerve or muscle injury, and would leave me unable to fully rotate my head on one side. It was super annoying and would last 1-3 days. I also hadnt consider that this could possibly be TMS. This time the pop didn't cause the full pinched nerve sensation, it was very mild, but since that moment I've never had that crick in my neck, nor have I had any type of gastritis pain.

    Anyways, after that extremely strange experience, I had little doubt that, if I kept journaling, believing and following the process, that I could minimize the role of headaches in my life. I had maybe 1 headache that week, and then from that point forward, roughly 1 mild headache per month (the type that I could take 2 advil for, or sleep and it would go away, not the debilitating ones I'd had in the past). Eventually, I stopped doing any kind of journaling or reading and, during a period of stress, my headaches increased to around 3x monthly. I reread the book and I added the question "Did you do anything yesterday that might cause head pain?" to a bullet journal I do most mornings, and my headaches decreased back to once a month or less.

    I know reading other peoples' success stories was something that helped me immensely, so I hope that reading this might help you with your headaches. You might be caught in a fear-pain cycle and be digging yourself in deeper looking for a physical solution. It scares me to think that I could have gone on for years like that! If you've seen a doctor, ruled out any serious physical cause, and been diagnosed with tension headaches, sinus headaches or migraines, then please consider giving this book a shot. If you have any questions feel free to write me at my g mail address which is "my first name + my last name + 1" (without the + of course).
    150 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2008
    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.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2024
    Very helpful on my personal journey to reduce pain and anxiety. It's also a quick, easy read, so it doesn't take much effort for a lot of reward. Highly recommended.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Amaryllis
    5.0 out of 5 stars on time
    Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2024
    I would recommend this book to everyone.
  • Laura
    5.0 out of 5 stars Everything went well
    Reviewed in Italy on January 22, 2024
    Everything went well
  • A.C
    2.0 out of 5 stars Expected better
    Reviewed in Spain on August 17, 2023
    Too Freudian
  • Kindle-klant
    5.0 out of 5 stars I love this man!
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on November 22, 2020
    Deze man is uniek en zo overtuigend dat je het wel moet geloven! Ben eerder na Healing Back Pain van ernstige rugklachten afgekomen alleen door het te lezen. Ik ben er helaas weer ingetrapt en monter mezelf op door weer te le,en.
  • Dr. De Lara
    5.0 out of 5 stars Informacion que todo mexicano deberia saber acerca del dolor de espalda y la ciatica
    Reviewed in Mexico on September 11, 2018
    México es un pais enfermo, solo falta ver el numero de farmacias que existen en comparación con otros paises. Este libro habla de la raiz de muchas enfermedades y padecimientos, principalmente el dolor de espalda y la ciatica. El Dr. Sarno, reconoce el dolor de estos padecimientos, y da una solucion efectiva para la mayoria de los casos. En su experiencia medica, la mayoria de los casos de dolor de espalda no ameritan cirugia. Recomiendo este libro si padeces de dolor de espalda o ciatica y has ido a ver a muchos doctores, quiropracticos, etc. Te invito a leer este libro con una mente abierta.

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