Editor Reviews:

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.

Rating : - Dealing with the unconscious is not an easy task, but may be well worth it
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.