The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders

By John E. Sarno

Book Overview

The Divided Mind is the crowning achievement of Dr. John E. Sarno's distinguished career as a groundbreaking medical pioneer, going beyond chronic pain to address the entire spectrum of psychosomatic (mindbody) disorders.

The interaction between the generally reasonable, rational, ethical, 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 like tension myositis syndrome (TMS). The Divided Mind traces the history of psychosomatic medicine, including Freud's crucial role, and describes the psychology responsible for the broad range of psychosomatic illness. 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 important aspects of psychosomatic phenomena is that knowledge and awareness of the mind-body connection clearly have healing powers. Thousands of people have become pain-free simply by reading Dr. Sarno's previous books. How and why this happens is a fascinating story, and is revealed in The Divided Mind.

This landmark book provides the tools to understand and overcome these conditions, revealing:

The Psychology of Mindbody Disorders: Learn how the conflict between the conscious and unconscious mind--and powerful repressed emotions like rage and sadness--can create very real physical symptoms.A New Approach to Healing Pain: Discover why structural issues like herniated discs are often not the true cause of pain, and how thousands have become pain-free simply through knowledge and awareness.The Full Spectrum of Symptoms: Go beyond back pain to understand the mindbody origins of conditions like fibromyalgia, hypertension, gastrointestinal issues, allergies, anxiety, and depression.The History of Psychosomatic Medicine: Trace the pioneering work of physicians from Freud to today's practitioners who have successfully treated thousands by addressing the mind, not just the body.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061174300
• ISBN13: 9780061174308
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Grateful Dr. Sarno and his book cured my back 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.

Dr. Sarno--You've Done it Again!

John's Sarno's books have totally changed my life! About 11 years ago I hobbled into a class I was teaching in severe back pain---pain I had experienced frequently over a more than 30 year period. One of my students came up and said he had a book that would "cure your back pain once and for all." Of course, I dismissed his offer as politely as I could. After all, how in the world could a mere book cure my chronic back pain, when an aggregate of dozens of chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, osteopaths, and even an orthopedic surgeon had not been able to help? I quickly forgot about the whole thing. The following week the pesky student showed up with Dr. Sarno's Healing Back Pain and strongly urged me to read it, again insisting that it would cure my pain. At this point, I decided to take the challenge, read the book, and then prove to the student that the book was a complete farce. Quite to my amazement, I literally "found myself" described on virtually every page. Applying the principles in that book, I cured my pain about 95% simply by feeling the signs of an incipient bout of acute pain, then trying to release the emotions or psychological resistance which was causing the pain. And in the remaining 5% of acute attacks of severe pain, I simply take time to reflect on and then let go of the underlying conflicting emotions which have caused the pain, since I have not neutralized them in time. My chronic severe back pains which had persisted for over 30 years, are now gone, except for a very rare acute bout, which lasts for only a very brief period of time. Thanks, Dr. Sarno! The greatest benefit for me of Healing Back Pain is that I no longer have the tremendous FEAR I used to experience during every bout of pain, expecting that somehow irretrievable damage was being done to my "fragile" back. Sarno's latest book, The Divided Mind, goes into much greater depth and detail about TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome), or the way chronically repressed emotions, particularly rage, in the unconscious mind create actual physical pain in the body. In a culture such as present day America where chronic pain of all descriptions is so prevalent, Sarno's book provides a beacon of hope for millions of sufferers. Dr. Sarno, through decades of successful clinical practice, has discovered that much chronic pain, though indeed physical (so it's not "all in your head") is of psychological origin. The difficulty for many patients is accepting this basic fact. For many, it is much easier to want a physical "fix" for pain than to even consider the possibility that repressed emotion may be a causative agent. The Divided Mind deals with the psychology, physical manifestations, and effective curative approaches in great detail. The appended chapters written by other physicians who have adopted Sarno's theory of TMS in their clinical practices makes the book all the more useful and fascinating. Although I felt the author's devotion

It's Not All in Your Head, But It All Starts There

A casual look at Dr. Sarno's books leads some people to dismiss them because they know that their pain is real and are turned off by a psychosomatic diagnosis. It is important to realize, however, that just because your pain or illness is psychosomatic doesn't mean that isn't truly painful or doesn't really exist. The key is to realize that your brain has a relatively simple method for causing chronic pain, specifically the ability to restrict the flow of oxygen to your tissues. This ability can be used to help bury subconscious rage that is the product of daily stress, a traumatic childhood, or a perfectionist mentality. In today's society, a person simply cannot afford to exhibit raw emotions and, as a result, your brain does whatever is necessary to keep those emotions from surfacing. Sometimes, just the awareness of this paradigm is enough to reduce or eliminate chronic pain. If you have chronic pain that just won't respond to conventional treatment, this book could be the solution that you've been looking for.

Super Sarno

I was predisposed to liking this book. Perhaps it was because in simply reading the introduction to Dr. Sarno's previous book "The Mindbody Prescription" I was able to rid myself of an incredible pain in my neck that I had off an on for years. That pain has left me - along with pains in my back and wrist for 4 years. Thank you Dr. Sarno. So yes, I'm biased - but we all should be. For some bizarre reason society in general and the medical community in particular have dismissed Sarno's discovery that the mind can indeed induce pain in our body. Everyday, Doctors are not diagnosing patients properly and therefore treatments for a battery of chronic aches and pains remain unsucessful. They need to realize that physical symptoms are many times not caused by physical events. If a coach in sports put up a 95% success rate, coaches from around the country, if not the world would beat a path to his door in an attempt to replicate that success. That's what Sarno has done. Last I checked a Doctor was supposed to help someone get better and while Dr. Sarno's approach isn't conventional, it's working. And it's so incredibly logical. The medical community tends to train its brilliant students as if they are auto mechanics. Guess what? Car engines don't cry. In keeping with the auto analogy, this industry is long overdue for an overhaul. They still believe the earth is flat - Sarno is proving that it isn't. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to review the book. It's brilliant. What was so uplifting were the chapters by M.D.'s, other than Sarno who will hopefully keep the flame of common sense alive. I predict in 50 years society will look back and laugh at how we treat patients today. We are indeed in the dark ages. Dr. Sarno has his finger on the light switch - I suggest you let him turn it on.