Dealing with unconscious causes of pain is not an easy task. Looking into one's emotions and doing the work of dealing with hidden rage and fear is also not easy. However, when one is looking at a lifetime of pain, culminating in death, one might want to consider the ratio of work to rewards. Even a little bit of work down this road pays off big. Once you get started, you will see this for yourself.

For me, the payoff is not simply the relief of pain, although I can assure you from experience this does happen. It's dealing with all the doctors, feeling helpless do to anything about your own pain, waiting for test results to make sure you don't have something really serious, etc.

It's all the anxiety around the pain that gets relieved in the process. Fear is an emotion, and anxiety comes from fear. Having a way to reduce fear and pain at the same time gives one hope and a feeling of control over your situation you might not normally have had you not discovered Dr. Sarno's work.

Chapter four gives you the step-by-step instructions on how to begin dealing with the emotions that are causing you pain. You do not need to purchase his DVD lectures or pay to see him in person. If you can grasp these concepts as outlined in the book, and begin to do your own emotional work, there is a good chance you will see a change for the better in the way your body expresses these emotions as pain.

If you need further help, it's probably not too hard to find a local therapist willing to help you explore causes of suppressed emotions. However, the idea that you can pick up this book and begin your own treatment right away is very exciting.

Dealing with your own emotions buried in the unconscious is not an easy task, but a worthwhile one. You have nothing to lose but your pain, and everything to gain in the process, including rethinking the way you react to many of the situations in your life.

I injured my back over 17 years ago and began the journey through the medical community that many other reviewers describe;chiropractic,acupuncture,surgery,steriod injections,etc. The absolute nadir must have been when I paid a "Rieke Master" (sp?)to hold her hands about six inches from me and ask,"Can you feel the heat from my hands?" No, of course I couldn't. I was so humiliated...you hear that when you hurt enough you'll try anything, but to find myself using a quack, that was embarrasing. The big thing about chronic pain is that eventually you realize what "chronic" means, which is forever,for the rest of your life.No intelligent person can face that without wondering whether or not a life like that is really worth living, and I considered suicide quite seriously.With my family history I was probably going to live at least another 25 years in agony,and I had to ask myself whether or not it was worth the trouble. Luckily, from the start I'd found doctors who prescribed narcotics for my pain. Had I not had those powerful painkillers I would certainly have killed myself. One doctor surgically installed a morphine pump that provided a small dose directly to the area that hurt. It worked very well, but as I developed a tolerance for the morphine I had to have the dose increased until finally the pump was turned as high as it would go. Eventually I had to take an early medical retirement from my job-now I would get 40% of my former salary and Social Security benefits, which don't amount to much. At least I could rest up. After a year I felt much better, except for the chronic pain.I still thought about shooting myself fairly often,but held it at bay with thoughts of the effect on my family. By chance one of my wife's doctors told her she should read this book. We bought it and out of curiosity I started reading it. I realilzed that a lot of the book pertained to me. A few days after I'd read it, my back didn't hurt anymore. The pain had almost disappeared. Since then I've tried to do things to make the pain come back. I've started exercising, I helped a relative move a rolltop desk from my house and into his truck (that worked! But only for a few days, and in a much milder form.) Now I've gotten a part time job that involves standing long periods, which used to cause literally agonizing pain. I've gotten sore, but that's about it. I've had the dose on my pump turned down three times in the last two months and I'll have it turned down again next time I see my doctor. My pain specialist is delighted and I'm feeling like I'm not a cripple anymore. There's a lesson here-had I gone through with my plans to kill myself,none of this would have been possible! If I continue to feel this good I'm going to try to get my old job back. Had I understood what Dr. Sarno was arguing in his book, that my pain was psychosomatic, I doubt that I would have read it. People who don't suffer from chronic pain ask, "what have you got to lose?" You can lose a lot. You lose hope.Once you've gone from one disappointment to another the fear of having another hope disappear into smoke makes it very difficult to commit to trying an new type of treatment. The sufferer has PLENTY to lose if this treatment fails like everything else has. How many blind alleys can you walk through? Thank God I did read the book. I wish the very best for Dr. Sarno and I think that people suffering from chronic back pain owe it to themselves to overcome their resistances and take a chance by reading this book. What's happened to me is little short of a miracle and the result has lasted well over two months, much farther than a placebo effect could have taken me. I'm glad now that I didn't kill myself.

Sarno's observations that many painful conditions are psychosomatically based (the pain is real, but the etiology involves repressive mechanisms operating in the unconscious) is a seminal insight that all western allopathic practitioners ignore to the detriment of their commitment to explore all efficacious treatments that might alleviate their patients' suffering. Purely somatically-based medicine - despite (and to a degree because) of explosive diagnostic technologies - has taken a seriously wrong turn in not focusing on the role of emotions and feelings as direct generators of pathologies. Sarno deserves credit, praise and encouragement in his lifelong attempt to reverse this narrow unproductive vision and restore the concept of holistic healing as the only truly salutary path to health and healing. Sarno has been ignored, undervalued and dismissed for far too long. He deserves a revered place in the pantheon of genuinely original and profound medical thinkers. His theoretical framework when strategically applied as a daily routine has helped me enormously, when - after a mountain of MRIs, EMGs, blood panels and surgical biopsies - drew a complete blank. Sarno's best book yet. Must reading for all chronic pain sufferers and mandatory reading for every physician who has watched conventional "structural" therapies repeatedly fail and who really cares about resolving his/her patients' agony by jettisoning their preconceptions, biases and limited training.

Dr. Sarno's genius won't be unveiled until we (as a specie) get a grip on our emotions. For now, the world is as much divided as the mind. A tiny part understands, while the immense majority doesn't understand. Worst, that immense majority might not even be wired to understand.

My dad suffers from his knee. He doesn't understand (and never will), so he keeps on suffering. It's easier for him to suffer (and get through surgery every 10 years) than to accept the fact that his knee is fine, and that the issue is buried in his mind.

My boss (a VERY smart man, Ivy leaguer) suffers from his lower back. Doesn't understand. Still suffers.

My best friend suffers from his ankle. Doesn't understand. Still suffers.

My uncle suffers from his elbow (huge tennis player my uncle). Convinced by a "tennis elbow" diagnostic. Still suffers.

My mom used to suffer from her neck. She understood, and doesn't suffer anymore.

I have three herniated disks (C2/C3 - L4/L5 - L5/S1). L4/L5 was operated on 3 years ago, without success. Today I know. I won't suffer anymore. Ever.

Thanks Doc. I'm grateful I've met you. I'm grateful I understood.

This is an outstanding book for individuals dealing with chronic pain. I bought a second copy as my first had become dog-eared and water damaged from taking it with me on all my travels. An excellent approach for those with an open mind to pain management.

I was skeptical while I read this book and I still am. However, this book has played a major role in my recovery from 15 years of sever RSI/Carpal Tunnel and 20 years of severe acid reflux/GERD... I am, thanks to this book and the choices it helped me make, completely free from antacids/proton pump inhibitors, acid blockers etc.. and 95% pain free from RSI/Carpal tunnel syndrome. If you're willing to take drugs for pain or illness, or see specialists, or have MRIs and CAT scans, why not try reading a book? I recommend this book to everyone who is looking for a life with less pain.

Once again Dr. John Sarno proved to be the best. He makes so much sense and never fails to hit the nail on the head. What a guy!!!!! The book is easy to read. My pain actually disappeared as I was reading the book.

This book and Sarno's other book have just about cured me of RSI in my hands. I went through 14 excrutiating months with RSI, if only I knew of this book from the start. Within 2 weeks of reading the book my pain and symptoms decreased by about 80%.
Great book, his method works, what more can you ask for.

I can go on writing about my own personal healing story, but since it is more/less simmilar to the other ones, I'll just write what I think may be useful for you people out there, looking to get better.

I was studying Vedic philosophy for over a decade and the concept of mind over matter was not new to me. In fact, 5 years of monastery life trained me to fully accept and integrate that fact into my life, but mostly in the spiritual sense.
I've had back problems for 10 years (starting when I was 24...which is ridiculous, I know) and although I knew that most ill conditions of our body come from our mind alone, I needed someone to direct my meditation and focus properly. And Dr. Sarno did it.

So, anyway, to make it short, when I heard about Dr. Sarno's methods of healing, I immediately went to search the internet for any kind of text that would give me some knowledge of how it's done.
I've found one radio interview by googling his name and some other keywords. Sat down to read it and within 45 minutes I was cured.
Miracle? Damn right! When people realize the power of our minds, there will be many more amazing miracles to behold.

To add to this, my 10 yr back problem was topped with severe painful condition that developed a few months ago and persisted without any sign of getting better. I was pretty much tied to my bed and constand adjusting, cracking my back, stretching and massaging. So much pain, I couldn't even eat properly and my finances were going downhill. Luckily, the whole drama lasted for only 10 (exremely painful) days, and it didn't end because of anything else but me finding out this interview, reading it and removing both the severe condition that occured 10 days ago, and my old condition that started almost 10 years ago. I thought, I don't even need those books, but to cut my arrogance right away, I remembered that this was only due to my previous knowledge about these things, and only because Dr. Sarno gave me the right key to the right door. I bought 3 books just to show a fragment of my gratitude. I'm recommending Dr.Sarno's books to everyone to contribute somehow myself.
Oh, and I'm reading those books almost every day. It should replace some of the useless medical junk books you have in your house.

The cure is in our mind. How wonderful!

I can go on writing about my own personal healing story, but since it is more/less simmilar to the other ones, I'll just write what I think may be useful for you people out there, looking to get better.

I was studying Vedic philosophy for over a decade and the concept of mind over matter was not new to me. In face, 5 years for monastery trained me to fully accept and integrate that fact into my life, but mostly in the spiritual sense. I've had back problems for 10 years (starting when I was 24...which is ridiculous, I know) and although I knew that most ill conditions of our body come from our mind alone, displaying an array of symptoms, which out modern medicine and science are so attached to cure, that it is not unusual to see how much they fail, even today, with all technology and so called advancement.

So, anyway, to make it short, when I heard about Dr. Sarno's methods of healing, I immediately went to search the internet for any kind of text that would give me some knowledge of how it's done.
I've found one radio interview by googling his name and some other keywords. Sat down to read it and within 45 minutes I was cured.
Miracle? Damn right! When people realize the power of our minds, there will be many more amazing miracles to behold.

To add to this, my 10 yr back problem was topped with severe painful condition that developed a few months ago and persisted without any sign of getting better. I was pretty much tied to my bed and constand adjusting, cracking my back, stretching and massaging. So much pain, I couldn't even eat properly and my finances were going downhill. Luckily, the whole drama lasted for only 10 (exremely painful) days, and it didn't end because of anything else but me finding out this interview, reading it and removing both the severe condition that occured 10 days ago, and my old condition that started almost 10 years ago. I thought, I don't even need those books, but to cut my arrogance right away, I remembered that this was only due to my previous knowledge about these things, and only because Dr. Sarno gave me the right key to the right door. I bought 3 books just to show a fragment of my gratitude. I'm recommending Dr.Sarno's books to everyone to contribute somehow myself.
Oh, and I'm reading those books almost every day. It should replace some of the useless medical junk books you have in your house.

The cure is in our mind. How wonderful!

I'm not done reading this but it has changed things a lot for me already. The mind is such a powerful tool for us to use (we've all heard that before!) but this book really helped me direct what I should be thinking about. I believe in positive thinking and it's effects but this helped me channel my thoughts to the area I needed. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and with concentrating on my thoughts.....yes...alot of my pain has disappeared. I'll always have the disease but if I can control the pain with keeping my thoughts channeled where they need to be and just being AWARE of what they are at all times....I've won. This book helped me realize what thoughts WERE in my head so that I COULD change them. Wow......be good to yourself and read it!

I highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from pain. I have read many books on the topic, including John Sarno's books. This book is the best book I have ever read on the topic. Having chapters written by physicians incorporating Mind Body medicine into their "conventional" practices is particularly effective (even one written by a surgeon). In addition starting the book with Freud's documented success treating patients with mind body disorders made the book very compelling.

Buy this book, you will not regret it.

This book removed my back pain in one day !! Our health care system has their heads ( you know where!!) This is a must read for anyone who is suffering from any kind of pain. Keep an open mind, you may be cured too.!!

This book lets you understand the problem which, in turn, leads to solving the problem

This book asserts that unconscious conflicts cause focal decreases in blood supply which then result in physical symptoms. There are no studies quoted showing a decrease in blood supply, and no clue is given why some people with unconscious conflicts have symptoms,and some do not. Physicians have noted good results after purging, bleeding, etc.. The fact that some patients improve under Dr. Sarno's care is no proof that his care caused the blood supply to improve, and that caused the pain to go away. Patients might well feel better when the cause of pain is explained as being benign rather than something dreadful, but that does not mean that subconscious conflicts have been resolved and due to that, local deficiencies in blood supply have improved.
The plight of patients suffering from severe pain is better served by serious study wherein theories of deficient blood supply are examined by measuring blood supply, and consequences of unconscious conflicts are studied by examining unconscious conflicts. Promoting your own biases because of unproven medical suspicions simply muddies the waters.

Having suffered pain from a 'slipped disc' in my neck which all but disappeared after reading the Mindbody Prescription, I was keen to read Dr. Sarno's new book. Effectively a polished & updated version of his theory & treatment, it also contains very useful chapters by other MDs working in this field - just having a slightly different perspective & new wording was extremely helpful. I'd highly recommend it to anyone with a therapeutic background - it seems slightly more pitched at this audience - but also to anyone still working on any TMS based pain.

If you have searched for answers to unexplained health problems then the latest Dr Sarno book is a MUST read! Dr Sarno's theories of our emotions being responsible for real pain are taken to another level as half of the book consists of TMS tales from other physicians. An orthopedist and a rheumatologist are among those who volunteer their experiences with patients who were suffering from debilitating pain that has no physical explanation. The search for a cure leads them to the exploration of Psychosomatic medicine and eventual cures for their patients.

Foe those unwilling to accept that the mind can be responsible for real pain, the rheumatologist offers this moment of clarity. "It strikes me curious that people will readily connect a feeling of embarassment with red cheeks or a feeling of nervousness with sweaty hands, but are unwilling to make a connection between anger and pain".

Read The Divided Mind and then read it again.

This excellent book, which in the first portion summarizes the findings of John Sarno, unfortunately assumes having read one of his earlier books, The Mind-Body Prescription, which better tells the theory. Still, I think anyone reading it would benefit, though not nearly as much as someone who had read the earlier work. My comments refer to Sarno's own writing only. The work of the other authors in the text are worth reading and make a valuable contribution to the study of repressed emotions as a cause of illness, if not the only cause. Someone should write an account that attempts to balance Sarno's views with the structuralist position, which applies to pain other than that induced by repressed emotions. Still, Sarno's views seem to account better for pain overall than mainstream medical works, yet his views will probably be dismissed by most structuralists unwisely. Sarno's views relate to the psychological causes of pain while the structural position pertain only to anatomical ones--the mainstream view. Anyone with some psychological training might be greatly impressed by Sarno's theory and should work hard to balance it. Reading the books helped reduce some of my own pain of long standing.

This will be a very short review but hopefully helpful. This book was actually a gift for my 87 year old mother-in-law. She is an avid reader and felt any age reader would enjoy this book. It addresses the mind and and the huge part it plays in the healing process. I will certainly read it when I get a chance.
Thank you
David Clardy

Although this book is written with Doctors in mind, it is wonderful to see how Dr. Sarno's work is being adapted and used in the medical community not just to treat pain, but other syndromes via both drug and non-drug therapies.

However, for serious patients who are looking for something more directed towards them I would recommend an earlier book by Dr. Sarno, "The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain".

I was having excruciating pain in my right buttock area and an MRI showed a herniated disc. Well of course after phys therapy, steroids, etc., surgery was the option left. Just the word surgery made my pain worse and I was really scared.
I first read Mind Over Back Pain, then in chron order, Dr. Sarno's other books, this one being the latest. I enjoyed how he shared the new things he learned in each book. I then said to myself this could be TMS (tension myositis syndrome--pain caused by oxygen deprivation to muscle or nerve or tendon or ligament due to brain). I decided to see Dr. Sarno and was diagnosed thankfully with TMS. He did look at my MRI and said the herniation was large, but likely not the cause of my pain. I have followed his study program which is outlined well in this book and 2 weeks later the pain is basically gone. I am able to walk or sit with no burning or pain, even drive, which I had not done for weeks.
Dr. Sarno's conviction in what he is doing and saying was thrilling to witness. And unlike other doctors, there is no "it could be . . . " and so "try this . . ." It is "you have TMS", this is why, and here is what to do. I loved hearing that from him.
I highly recommend all his books. I am grateful to Dr. Sarno for writing these books and helping me be pain-free and I've told him so!
I was NOT a skeptic from the beginning, however, as I believe strongly that our mind (emotion) affects our body. If you are open to learning how you can realize and accept things about yourself, your life, and your childhood, read Dr. Sarno's books.
I am thrilled I am pain-free with no surgery!
So many people have similar problems and pains, but I have seen that some are not willing to accept that their mind plays a major role and there is personal work involved.
I highly recommend this book. There is explanation of TMS, whom it affects and what to do about it, other doctors' experiences, history of other professionals (living and deceased) realizing the brain plays a part in our physical health, letters from patients, etc. It is a great book. Read it and see for yourself.

Urgent, this book will really change your life, if you can give an open mind to Dr Sarno's thesis about the origin of so much pain. Enough said!

I was having excruciating pain in my right buttock area and an MRI showed a herniated disc. Well of course after phys therapy, steroids, etc., surgery was the option left. Just the word surgery made my pain worse and I was really scared.
I first read Mind Over Back Pain, then in chron order, Dr. Sarno's other books, this one being the latest. I enjoyed how he shared the new things he learned in each book. I then said to myself this could be TMS (tension myositis syndrome--pain caused by oxygen deprivation to muscle or nerve or tendon or ligament due to brain). I decided to see Dr. Sarno and was diagnosed thankfully with TMS. He did look at my MRI and said the herniation was large, but likely not the cause of my pain. I have followed his study program which is outlined well in this book and 2 weeks later the pain is basically gone. I am able to walk or sit with no burning or pain, even drive, which I had not done for weeks.
Dr. Sarno's conviction in what he is doing and saying was thrilling to witness. And unlike other doctors, there is no "it could be . . . " and so "try this . . ." It is "you have TMS", this is why, and here is what to do. I loved hearing that from him.
I highly recommend all his books. I am grateful to Dr. Sarno for writing these books and helping me be pain-free and I've told him so!
I was NOT a skeptic from the beginning, however, as I believe strongly that our mind (emotion) affects our body. If you are open to learning how you can realize and accept things about yourself, your life, and your childhood, read Dr. Sarno's books.
I am thrilled I am pain-free with no surgery!
So many people have similar problems and pains, but I have seen that some are not willing to accept that their mind plays a major role and there is personal work involved.
I highly recommend this book. There is explanation of TMS, whom it affects and what to do about it, other doctors' experiences, history of other professionals (living and deceased) realizing the brain plays a part in our physical health, letters from patients, etc. It is a great book. Read it and see for yourself.

Not only did I love this book, it was my Christmas present to several friends and clients and I immediately read one of Dr. Sarno's earlier books, "Healing Back Pain". Not to sound too cliche', but this is the book the medical community does NOT want you to read. If you have ever suffered from any chronic pain or illness, read this book. Through decades of patient case studies and chapters written by other doctor's using Dr. Sarno's methods, you will hopefully gain valuable insights about your pain or illness, as I did. Here comes another cliche'-this book changed my life. If only I had begun reading Sarno's books 20 years ago.

This book goes a step further than Dr. Sarno's Mind Body Prescription. The latter thoroughly explains most afflictions that can be classified as TMS. The former explains the different types of emotional states and defenses that cause the TMS syndromes. I recommend both books for anyone seeking healing from the many TMS symptoms and their equivalents--from back pain, to carpal tunnel syndrome, allergies, tendinitis, etc. I've had them all, and only through Dr. Sarno's method have I experienced complete recovery, without a single drug or pain killer. I am eternally grateful to Dr. Sarno for sharing his wisdom.

Another brilliant book from Dr. Sarno, he brings to the 21st century the forgotten concepts of Psychosomatic medicine which are essential to understand and cure the epidemic of pain desorders that mainstream medicine has failed to do.