The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine

Front Cover
W. W. Norton & Company, 2009 M01 27 - 338 pages
People suffering from serious illnesses improve their survival chances by adopting a positive attitude and refusing to believe in the worst. Stress is the great killer of modern life. Ancient Eastern mind-body techniques can bring us balance and healing. We’ve all heard claims like these, and many find them plausible. When it comes to disease and healing, we believe we must look beyond doctors and drugs; we must look within ourselves. Faith, relationships, and attitude matter. But why do we believe such things? From psychoanalysis to the placebo effect to meditation, this vibrant history describes our commitments to mind-body healing as rooted in a patchwork of stories that have allowed people to make new sense of their suffering, express discontent with existing care, and rationalize new treatments and lifestyles. These stories are sometimes supported by science, sometimes quarrel with science, but are all ultimately about much more than just science.

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Contents

Acknowledgments
9
Introduction STORIES SCIENCE
15
Chapter One THE POWER OE SUGGESTION
31
Chapter Two THE BODY THAT SPEAKS
67
Chapter Three THE POWER OE POSITIVE THINKING
103
Chapter Four BROKEN BY MODERN LIEE
139
Chapter Five HEALING TIES 17 5
175
Chapter Six EASTWARD IOURNEYS
205
Conclusion MAKING SENSE
243
57
270
Select Bibliography
299
3
323
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About the author (2009)

Anne Harrington is the Franklin L. Ford Professor of the History of Science and faculty dean of Pforzheimer House at Harvard University. She is the author of four books, including Mind Fixers and The Cure Within. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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