Rating: 
Summary: Valuable Common-Sense Resource
Review: Sarno has rediscovered what we knew in our hearts all along: how we respond to the emotional wounds inflicted on us by the world determines to a large extent how much illness afflicts us. Of course there are organic causes to disease, but we retard it or help it along by how honest we are with ourselves. There is such a thing as a "pain cycle" and Sarno teaches you how to break it. You don't have to be a victim. You can re-examine your life story and learn to forgive--and you will feel better.
Rating:
Summary: Read slowly and carefully
Review: In all fairness to readers, someone needs to establish that often there is simply no substitute for an occasional office visit to a real live medical doctor. One cannot cure EVERYTHING from a book. I also don't believe that the "Power of Positive Thinking" can cure all ills. With these caveats aside, it can be safely stated that this is a 4 or 5 star piece of work. It covers such a wide range of medical issues that no one review could fairly cover them all. I believe the best advice to "amazoners" is simply to buy the book and read it carefully, testing Dr. Sarno's theories and taking what you can. Treat it as a checkpoint of sorts, to be referred back to. Do not read it as a novel that can be discarded or recycled to a friend. "The Mind Body Prescription" belongs on your shelf permanently. Some readers may feel more comfortable starting with the author's "Healing Back Pain" (a true 5 star work!). That will introduce one to the Sarno philosophy before proceeding to "The Mind Body Prescription". Either way, Dr. Sarno has some excellent ideas. We all owe it to ourselves to read one or two of his writings.
Rating: 
Summary: It can be done!
Review: With a massive amount of work and the willingness to accept the diagnosis that most "back pain" is the result of repressed anger - it is indeed possible to do an end-run around the medical apparatus that keeps so many prisoner and costs this country untold billions. Dr. Sarno is very careful to insist upon ruling out any serious medical problems first before embarking upon the TMS discovery.With effort and courage, the job of healing can be brought back where it belongs - to the individual. Maybe with wide education of mind-body phenomena, we can begin to break the stranglehold that conventional medicine has on so many. Good luck - and BE PATIENT!!
Rating:
Summary: Treating the cause, not the symptoms
Review: A year ago, I was diagnosed with a large herniated cervical disk, I was scheduled for surgery in two days when 20/20 ran a segment on Dr. Sarno. I had severe pain in my neck, shoulder, and arm that prevented me from sleeping more than 2-3 hours at a time and severely compromised the positions I could sleep in. Dr. Sarno's books combined with treatment from a local doctor he referred me to have eliminated my symptoms. I can now sleep in all of my favorite positions and I'm training to run a marathon this fall. Sarno's theory has proved dramatically successful and I fully believe he is on to the cause of many, many physical ailments. Don't go under the knife without reading this book!
Rating:
Summary: A wake-up call
Review: I would highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from RSI, back pain, and a myriad of other pain syndromes. Dr. Sarno is onto something big. From my own recovery and the recovery of several people I know personally, I can attest to just how promising his work is. Sarno's basic contention is that the pain behind RSI and back pain, while very real, is not caused by structural problems (tear, rip, herniation, etc.) but by psychological factors -- that both conditions are examples of psychosomatic injuries. In his books he provides a lot of very compelling evidence to back up his conclusions. A great many people out there suffer a lot of pain (often chronic) and go to a doctor and then sit there while the doctor grasps at straws to try to find a structural explanation -- *any* structural explanation -- for what is causing the pain! In truth, most of these diagnoses are not based on any kind of solid evidence, other than the assumption that "the body is a machine" and if something hurts, then something must be broken. The truth is that pain is not always a sign of a structural problem. And if your pain is not caused by a structural process, then trying to get rid of it through a structural approach is not going to work. Welcome to the world of chronic pain sufferers: unforunately, misdiagnosis doesn't cure too well except as a placebo. The good news is that Dr. Sarno has come along to free a lot of people from their pain. The bad news is that because his work threatens the dominant medical paradigm of the modern medical community, you will not have this book handed to you by your doctor. Because doctors aren't handing it out, news about this book has spread by word of mouth, friend to friend. Take my word for it, Sarno is the only one I have heard convincingly explain how RSIs and back pain have spiraled into epidemic proportions in the last 50 years. He's also the only one to provide a good cure. Buy this book! ...
Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: This book and Dr. Sarno have changed my life! Anyone with back pain, or any kind of chronic pain, who wants to live pain-free once and for all should read this book! I had back surgery a year ago, but the pain returned. I planned every part of my day around my back pain, but now, I never even think of it. After spending a fortune at the chiropractor and limiting myself from riding a bike, running, lifting, even slouching comfortably in a chair for the past two years, I am doing it all with no pain. Dr. Sarno's techniques involve no physical exercise. In fact, I predict that this will some day be the most widespread treatment for pain control (probably years from now since the medical field will be slow to accept it). Anyone suffering from reoccurring back pain should feel free to e-mail me about how this book has quickly helped me to be able to live once again!
Rating:
Summary: The Mind Body Prescription
Review: This is Dr. Sarno's latest and best book so far. He further esplains how emotional stress cause physical symptoms. I recommend all of Dr. Sarno's books to my patients. If you have chronic pain of any type read this book. It is amazing the things that cause the painful disorders that we try to treat with current medicine. I have had several patients fix their lives and watch the pain go away. I highly recommend this book. It should be taught in high school health while our minds are still open enough to grasp the concepts. It would save many people a lifetime of pain.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting book, but not the only answer
Review: After several years of back troubles, sometimes with pain lasting several months, I decided to give Sarno's book a try. Folks should know that Sarno is a die-hard Freudian and believes that all pain and most illnesses (including allegies, Reynaud's syndrome, hiatus hernia, hypoglycemia) are induced by the mind, because of the unconscious rage we all hold onto. There is no doubt that there is a strong link between the mind and illness, but I think that Sarno goes way overboard. How would he explain why very young children get arthritis and cancer? How much unconscious rage could a well cared for small child have? The book advocates addressing the stress in your life (a no brainer) as well as the unconscious rage, and suggests relaxation techniques. Sarno also says that back pain sufferers should STOP specific back exercises and stretches, because they only call attention to the back, and he believes that the back does not need any special attention. Read this book if you are looking for an alternative to what you've already read from the conventional medicine side of back care. There is no information in here on how to deal with the pain while you are working on your unconscious rage, and the book is very repetitive. I'd also recommend Healing the Back Natually, and Back Care Basics, a yoga book.
Rating:
Summary: Changed My Life
Review: This book is astounding. I have suffered from sciatic nerve pain for years, and thought I'd never be out of pain. By applying Dr. Sarno's principles, not only did my sciatic nerve pain disappear, but problems I was having with my GI tract disappeared as well. A true life-saver.
Rating:
Summary: SARNO IS RIGHT, AND THAT'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!
Review: This man may very well be a genius. Or a great discoverer, like Christopher Columbus. While I may have a humorous introduction, take me seriously. I am a skeptic to the nth degree. A cynic, and suspicious of all new theories in the world of science and medicine. But! The truth is, John Sarno is a legend, and an incredibly important hero. I was in the hospital four times in four years for my chronic back pain. Doctor after doctor spoke to me about potentially slipped discs, nerve damage, sciatica, blah blah blah. THEN, in 1995 the American Medical Association published a study regarding back pain, which a Doctor at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles mentioned to me. The doctor told me, "Josh, I need to tell you that the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study earlier this year, and I think they're right. Your back pain is severe, but you need to ask yourself why your back pain comes back, treatment after treatment. If us doctors really knew how to treat back pain, we'd have cured you. There is nothing physically wrong with you." I was shocked. Then, on the recommendation found in Howard Stern's books, "Private Parts" and "Miss America" (yeah, I know, laugh all you want), I picked up John Sarno's MIND OVER BACK PAIN. I could not believe any of this. But it's true. I have had NO BACK PAIN IN FIVE YEARS. I'm free. Folks, prior to this, I WAS IN TOTAL CRIPPLING AGONY. Nowadays, when I feel a tinge in my back, I remind myself that it's my body reacting to tension or anger or a similar emotion or other imbalance in my state of mind. And now, the back pain is gone in SECONDS. Not the best-written, most measured review, but for GOD'S SAKE, IF YOU HAVE BACK PAIN, READ ANYTHING BY JOHN SARNO AND END THE AGONY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE THIS WAY. If your doctor rejects Sarno in any way, get a second opinion. Any doctor who rejects the mind-body connection Sarno puts forth is AN IDIOT. One day, probably long after he's gone, John Sarno will be lionized by the medical community. He should be given the Congressional Medal of Honor for his work in saving folks' sanity and the United States of America from more payouts via workman's comp or lost time at work. GOD BLESS JOHN SARNO.
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