13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The solution to stress induced illness, December 16, 2007
This review is from: They Can't Find Anything Wrong!: 7 Keys to Understanding, Treating, and Healing Stress Illness (Paperback)
I highly recommend this book.
There have been many books about stress induced illness.
Dr. Sarno is probably the most well known in the area of stress induced pain. His book, "Healing Back Pain" has been a best seller. Thousands of people have recovered from back pain without surgery as a result of his books. Many patients have problems accepting his theory because it is somewhat technical. They state that "the pain is real; it is not in my head," which of course is true but misses the point. Dr. Sarno recommends therapy for those who have followed his treatment program but still have pain.
It appears that, although thousands have recovered, many do not recover completely from stress induced pain and remain pain free for the rest of their lives. The pain frequently comes back, moves around and never seems to go away. This situation is a common complaint on the back pain forums. Dr. Clarke's book provides an answer.
Dr. Clarke refers to stress induced pain as "stress illness." His treatment consists of uncovering the emotions that are causing the stress and developing a course of action to react to these emotions and eliminate the pain.
Dr. Clarke interviews his patient until he finds the cause of the stress and then guides his patient to a solution to eliminate the stress. He has been following this procedure with remarkable success at the rate of approximately 400 patients a year for over 20 years.
At the present time, mainstream medicine does not understand stress illness and their patients suffer accordingly.
Neither Dr. Sarno's nor Dr. Clarke's treatments can be considered alternative medicine. The treatments are more appropriately described as procedures to be followed as a result of a correct diagnosis of the patient's problem.
Dr. Clarke doesn't try to convince the patient of Dr. Sarno's theory, that is, that the pain is the result of repressed rage. Dr. Clarke just goes ahead looking for the cause of the stress and suggests a way to eliminate it. He is successful and the patient is cured. This is adequate proof of the correct diagnosis.
The case studies are fascinating. He seems to have the ability and technique of a therapist but his procedures are not too difficult to follow and can be very helpful to the reader. He guides the patient in discovering the cause of the stress and the relationship to the pain.
Dr. Clarke maintains that the emotions that create the stress must be uncovered. Sometimes just the knowledge of the emotions involved is sufficient as illustrated in his case studies, but sometimes further action is required of the patient. This is an excellent book for understanding the complete process of resolving stress illness pain. Dr. Clarke's desire is that it be a self help book.
Mainstream medicine has been slow in accepting the concept that stress causes pain. Dr. Sarno has been the pioneer; Dr. Clarke is continuing the process. Some day, hopefully, mainstream medicine will have the knowledge of the correct diagnosis and cure their patients that are now in the process of continued suffering.
This book is a treat. It is a page turner. It is also one of the most helpful books on the subject of pain from stress. I predict that it will become a classic.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb read, October 28, 2007
This review is from: They Can't Find Anything Wrong!: 7 Keys to Understanding, Treating, and Healing Stress Illness (Paperback)
As a fellow digestive disease specialist, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of Dr. Clarke's superb work. Patients with years of distress and negative tests with no answers, hunger for not only relief of their symptoms, but also for respect, understanding, and dignity. The answers to their problems are not easily found, and do not conveniently lie at the tip of yet another endoscope or costly imaging procedure. Instead, sensitive, caring, and sophisticated investigation is required, the kind rarely taught in formal teaching programs. This book is a key for that puzzle; a crucial addition to any physician's library and for anyone dealing with a chronic physical problem. After all, even those of us with identifiable diseases often have superimposed and complicating stress components.
The writing is compelling, touching, and replete with hope,inspiration, and healing via guided self-discovery. Dr. Clarke's book is required reading in understanding the complexities of the human physical condition - theoretically evolved to perfection after thousands of years, only to be brought to its knees by stress illnesses induced by the dysfunction of family systems, abuse, and personal tragedy.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, October 28, 2007
This review is from: They Can't Find Anything Wrong!: 7 Keys to Understanding, Treating, and Healing Stress Illness (Paperback)
As a Mental Health Clinician it is refreshing to find a physician that can put into words what our patient's having been telling us for years. Dr. Clarke can sit with a patient as well as any therapist and get to the heart of what has been affecting our patients on the physical levels, which also will help to heal the mental and spiritual aspects of out patients. It's refresshing to find an MD that will spend time to hear a patient with empathy, non-judgmentally anf then treat the soul of a person. This book is one of those rare jems that practioners and therapists need to read and use in their practise. Thank you Dr. Clark.
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