When the Body Says No

Description

In this accessible and groundbreaking book--filled with the moving stories of real people--medical doctor and bestselling author Gabor Maté shows that emotion and psychological stress play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis and many others, even Alzheimer's disease. When the Body Says No is an impressive contribution to research on the physiological connection between life's stresses and emotions and the body systems governing nerves, immune apparatus and hormones. With great compassion and erudition, Gabor Maté demystifies medical science and, as he did in Scattered Minds, invites us all to be our own health advocates.

Description

"Can a person literally die of loneliness? Is there a connection between inhibited emotion and Alzheimer's disease? Is there a "cancer personality"? Questions such as these are emerging as scientific findings throw new light on the controversy that surrounds the mind-body connection in illness and health. Modern research is confirming the age-old wisdom that emotions profoundly affect our physiology. Repressed emotions frequently bring on stress -- which, in turn, can lead to disease. Provocative and beautifully written, When the Body Says No provides fresh information regarding these and other important issues concerning the effects of stress on health. In lucid, easy-to-follow language, Dr. Gabor Mate summarizes the latest scientific findings about the role that stress and individual emotional makeup play in an array of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, cancer, and ALS, among others. Emotions like anger share with our immune system the role of defending our boundaries. When we repress emotions, we may also suppress our immune defenses. In some people, these defenses may go awry, destroying the body rather than protecting it. Dr. Mate explores the reason why, despite a rapidly accumulating body of evidence about the mind-body unity, most physicians continue to treat physical symptoms rather than persons -- and why we must understand the mind-body link in order to take an active role in our overall health. When the Body Says No promotes learning and healing. It offers the kind of transformative insight that promotes physical and emotional self-awareness -- the lack of which, Dr. Mate asserts, is at the root of much of the stress that chronically debilitates health and prepares the ground for disease. Book jacket."--Jacket.

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Genres

• Popular works

Other Editions

• When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-disease ConnectionJ. Wiley2003-01-01
• When the body says noA.A. Knopf Canada2003-01-01
• When the Body Says No - The Cost of Hidden StressHardcoverAlfred A. Knopf2003-01-01
• When the Body Says NoWiley2003-04-11
• When the Body Says NoPaperbackVintage Canada2004-02-03
• When the body says noJ. Wiley2011-01-01