When The Body Says NO: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection, by Gabor Maté, M.D. Wiley Press, 2003
The ICE Method and EFT tapping have exposed me to a lot about the link between our emotions and our physical health. Dr. Gabor Maté, a family physician and palliative care physician, takes that exposure to a much broader level. In life history interviews with his patients, Dr. Maté has documented the linkages between stress and disease. He has done so for a wider variety of diseases than I would have imagined. Some of the diseases include a variety of cancers, Lou Gehrig’s disease, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, ulcerative colitis, intestinal bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and more.
This is a book that sits high on my recommended list of readings – both for Dr. Maté’s own finding as well as the extensive research studies that he quotes. Part of what’s so great about this book is that many medical studies already do exist, documenting the connection between life experience, stress, and disease. There are even many specific studies for particular diseases. For one who spends my time helping people come out of their stress states and into their calm state, this book is a real confirmation of the utlity of The ICE Method. Still, ten years after Maté’s publication, our medical world still has not made stress and life experience a central part of our medical care system.