Customer Reviews

Healing and the Mind

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With the sad state of health care in this country, Bill Moyers' engaging series looks to be quite prophetic 10 years after it first aired. As a casual observer of illness my whole life, I firmly believe that so much of what ails people is psychosomatic. Understanding how the mind works will be crucial in health care in the 21st century, as the model we currently have just isn't cutting the mustard. The book is a nice companion to the series, but the video of the Chinese lady receiving brain surgery using only acupuncture as anesthesia needs to be SEEN to be fully appreciated. My favorite video part is Jon Kabat-Zinn's use of meditation as a way of alleviating pain. I often show this Episode 3 to my classes and they are certainly fascinated. The book is a good place to start, but try to find the tapes at your local library also. P.S. Bill Moyers deserves some kind of national medal for his sustained excellence as a broadcaster!!!

This book, which stayed on the bestseller list for quite some time and is the companion book for the PBS special of the same name, sprang from Moyer's friendship with Norman Cousins, author of Anatomy of an Illness and from viewing his father's debilitating headaches that began after Moyer's brother died. Each chapter is an in-depth interview with various healers, some from Western traditions, some with interests in Eastern traditions. The quality of the interviews is sporadic; I felt that since Moyer's doesn't have a medical background that there were times better questions would have elicited a more interesting turn to the conversation. Some interviews will put you right to sleep unless comprehensive discussions of neuropeptides excite the heck out of you! The most informational interviews came from physicians speaking about their fears and admitting to the types of limitations and insecurities they experience in the course of practicing - and how these fears are never discussed with patients in case they should "get too close". For my purposes, the interview with Ron Anderson, CEO of Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas was particularly enlightening particularly his statement that "But as we shift to more chronic disease models, we've got to have people who are able to help take care of themselves when they go home. Chronic diseases have to be dealt with as illness in the community and in the family." (p.33) And I would add, in the workplace. I wouldn't purchase this book, but taking it out from the library for a quick skim would be fine.

A very conservative look from one angle of alternative medicene yields opinions from respected medical practioners that there is more to healing then completing your perscription on time. The last section, focussed on traditional Chinese Healing, is the most interesting, although Moyers can be a bit of a dolt with his constant questioning about "chi". Really really gets one thinking about what is health, and what should be the role of physicians today.

I found the cassette format difficult at best to enjoy due to the foreign language discussions throughout. I am sure that authenticity was the goal for Moyers, but I would rather have not had my time wasted on not understanding words and would have rather enjoyed the tapes entirely in English with editing done. Have you ever tried to drive and constantly push the fast forward button on the radio/cassette player? The book would have been better for me.

This book helped me a lot with my thesis paper on the relation between mononucleosis and depression. It also helped my friend with her paper on massage, and it fascinated both of us. I don't know what I would have done without it.