The Cure Within

You might enjoy this recent book by Anne Harrington, The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine. Here's what David Takami had to say about the book in the Seattle Times:

"In 'The Cure Within,' Harvard history professor Anne Harrington sustains a pleasing equilibrium, mixing a little science and a big dose of history with an occasional Ripley's Believe It or Not factoid. In one astonishing example to illustrate 'the power of suggestion,' a man with cancerous orange-size tumors takes an experimental drug he believes will cure him, and his tumors quickly shrink even though the drug is later proved to be worthless. When he hears this news, he immediately relapses and soon dies."

"Harrington is at her best when charting the historical progression of ideas and public attitudes. It is fascinating to learn the connections between priestly exorcism and its secular successor, 'animal magnetism,' which produced similar convulsions in subjects. She moves nimbly on to Freud's use of hypnosis on his patients, the rise of psychosomatic medicine in the early 1930s, connecting physical ailments with emotional distress, Christian Science spiritual-healing practices, and the linking of Type A behavior with heart disease."

"The author's sources are varied, including academic studies and popular literature. In particular, she singles out Norman Vincent Peale's enormously influential book 'The Power of Positive Thinking' and a revolutionary article in the New England Journal of Medicine by political pundit Norman Cousins, who described the benefits of positive emotions on his own healing."

"The last two chapters bring us well into the present. Harrington shares compelling accounts of the healing power of love and intimacy for children and adults, and of meditation and Chinese natural medicines and practices. Her clear and clearheaded prose helps her avoid veering into the self-help ether that affects so many other books on similar topics."