Product Description
The book that will change the way we think about health and illness, The Divided Mind is the crowning achievement of Dr. John E. Sarno's distinguished career as a groundbreaking medical pioneer, going beyond 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. 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 process 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.
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 Dealing with the unconscious is not an easy task, but may be well worth it ( jimcarruth )
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.
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I'm Glad Now I Didn't Kill Myself ( roadkill2@prodigy.net )
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.
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THE Real Alternative ( adegen13 )
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.
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Genius
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.
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Great book!
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.
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