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Over the past twenty years, an explosion of scientific studies have helped to explain why our state of mind may exert such a strong influence on the state of our health. In Mind-Body Unity science writer Henry Dreher weighs the results of leading-edge mind-body research, and he concludes that mind and body are not merely connected, they are unified. Our minds play a role in health, Dreher argues, the way our eyes play a role in sight.
Integrating biological research on mind-body unity with psychosocial research on emotions in human health, Dreher surveys remarkable findings on the role of emotions, coping, and personality in coronary heart disease; on psychosocial factors in cancer progression and survival; and on the social dimensions of human health. He also describes mind-body approaches to the treatment of cancer, women's health conditions, somatization disorder, and in surgery. Finally, Dreher provides a critical overview of the social and political context of this research, from the presentations of leading popularizers such as Bernie Siegel and Deepak Chopra, to the experiences of practitioners and patients, to the resistance of mainstream medicine, to the many exciting possibilities suggested by a deeper understanding of how mind and body are inextricably bound.
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M I N D - B O DY U N I T Y This page intentionally left blank M I N D - B O DY U N I T Y A New Vision for Mind -Body Science and Medicine THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS Baltimore and London © The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper The Johns Hopkins University Press North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland - www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dreher, Henry. Mind-body unity : a new vision for mind-body science and medicine / Henry Dreher. p. ; cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN - - - (hardcover : alk. paper) . Medicine, Psychosomatic. . Mind and body. . Mind and body therapies. [DNLM: . Mind-Body Relations (Metaphysics)—physiology. . Psychophysiologic Disorders. . Psychosomatic Medicine. m ] I. Title. . . -dc A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. For Harris Dienstfrey and Barbara Miller This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction xiii The Scientific Basis of Mind-Body Medicine Chapter . The Psychosomatic Network: Foundations of Mind-Body Medicine Chapter . The Social Perspective in Mind-Body Studies Chapter . The Mindful Heart: Psychosocial Factors in Heart Disease Chapter . Cancer and the Mind: An Integrative Investigation Clinical Applications of Mind-Body Medicine Chapter . Behavioral Medicine’s New Marketplace Chapter . The Scientific and Moral Imperative of Psychosocial Interventions for Cancer Chapter . Mind-Body Medicine for Women: Gender-Specific Treatments Chapter . Somatization: Secrets Disclosed to the Body Chapter . Mind-Body Interventions for Surgery: Evidence and Exigency Index This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I wish to thank Harris Dienstfrey, my editor at Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, for giving me my first chance in to write about mind-body science and medicine. Harris gave me open-ended opportunities to write for the journal, which I did regularly for the next seventeen years, and many chapters in this book are revised versions of articles that first appeared there. He has been a wonderful teacher and editor—patient and witty, blendin