The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine

by Anne Harrington

Lays bare the history behind mind-body healing. 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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Psychology, Health, Medicine, Medical

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this immediately after reading the same author’s phenomenal other book Mind Fixers, a historical deconstruction of psychiatry’s medicalization of mental illness via grounding it in strictly biological terms.

I strongly recommend both texts, but if you haven’t read Mind Fixers, read it first and come back to this one.

The Cure Within is a well researched, fair and balanced, intellectually honest, scholarly account of so called ‘wholistic’ or ‘mind body’ medicine and (by default) psychoanalysis, psychiatry, psychotherapy, and American ‘new age’ spirituality.

I’m highly allergic to the secret and the whole ‘power of attraction’ pseudo intellectual, pseudo spiritual nonsense trash that has (unfortunately) become the state religion of Southern California.

And I can’t stand the term mind-body.

I’m a monist-materialist when it comes to such matters. In other words, I view the mind (for lack of a better term) as an emergent property of the brain.

Which (last time I checked) is definitely a part of the body.

The term mind-body feels like and odd relic of dualistic thinking that viewed the mind as a ‘non-physical’ phenomena.

Which (in case you can’t tell) is like a really crackhead notion in my opinion.

That being said.

The term mind-body, referring to the effects of psychological materiel on health and wellness, is conventional and is still in common use, so I’m going with it here.

Author Anne Harrington absolutely kicks this subject in the ass by shrewdly deconstructing the topic in to the following 4 historical narrative tropes:

1: The Body Talks; referring to the notion that we get sick when we are unwilling or unable to experience and acknowledge our difficult psychological material.

2: Broken by Modern Life; referring to the idea that modern life is alienating and more stressful (and therefore more pathogenic) than pre-industrial, pre-informational life.

3: Healing Ties; referring to the idea that social support is healing, and conversely, that social isolation is unhealthy.

4: Journey Eastward; referring to the orientalist tendencies in wholistic medicine that view all things Asian as both spiritual and healthy.

The book is fundamentally a history, and attempts to maintain an objective, scholarly, unsentimental stance throughout.

However, Harrington is unflinching in her criticism of each of these narratives and their more toxic products.

The book savagely and systematically debunks some (or most) of wholistic medicine’s sacred cows, and clearly advocates for critical thinking and sound scientific methods for making medical truth claims.

That being said. The final chapters betray the authors ultimate sympathy for the wholistic ‘humanistic’ approach and basic skepticism regarding strict medical scientific reductionism.

Anyway.

I just couldn’t put this thing down.

Highly recommended.

Mostly as a follow up to Harrington’s other book Mind Fixers.

NOTE: this book is available on Audible. But the narration is really really really bad. The narrator clearly didn’t understand the text, struggled with the sentence structure, and mispronounced dozens (if not hundreds) of words, names etc.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book! Harrington explores the various narratives of mind-body experience and history, from mesmerism to positive thinking to non-Western disciplines (like Buddhism). There is much to think about in this book. For example; Did you know that in Japan there is no word for "hot flashes"? Apparently Japanese women don't have them. Harrington speculates that it's because loss of ability to bear children is not associated in Japan with loss of use to society, as it is in the U.S.

I don't usually read non-fiction books in detail, because I can usually get the overall point in the first third. In this case, I read all of the book, although I did skim some of the later stuff. I almost considered buying the book, because it has so much good information in it.

Harrington follows the history of mind-body medicine from mesmerism/hypnotism up to current Eastern traditions. She separates her history into phases, although this seems artificial, as there are many strains evident today.

[Shanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge rambly review ahead.

I read this for a Mind-Body Medicine class, and I thought it was fascinating. Harrington covers six narratives that have shaped Western mind-body medicine as a field: The Power of Suggestion, The Body That Speaks (the unconscious made conscious), The Power of Positive Thinking, Broken By Modern Life (the morbidogenic modern Western environment), Healing Ties (the health benefits of social support), and Eastward Journeys (the introduction of Eastern spiritual/medical practices in the West).

This book isn't a how-to guide; it doesn't make recommendations, or try to convince us of the benefit of mind-body practices. Nor does it provide answers as to why mind-body practices work. Instead, it is merely a historical overview of changing beliefs and medical practices in the West. However, I do think it's an excellent example of how looking to the past often provides answers for the future.

Some underlying themes/lessons that have stuck with me from this book and the class I took:

• scientific understanding is always changing, and what we believe to be true today may not be true 100 years from now
• the shared links between various healing practices
• distinguishing between the efficacy of a treatment and the explanation for why it works
• not only is the symptom pool shaped by social/cultural/political factors; the response to a healing practice is too (ex: hypnotized patients in the past vs in the present act very differently)
• causes and potential solutions for the current "epidemic" of chronic diseases
• modern dissatisfaction with healthcare, especially the 15 minute appointment model
• the connection between "belief in the potential to heal" and actual healing
• engagement with Eastern and other indigenous practices without Othering
• the pitfalls of evidence-based medicine, especially when it comes to somatic practices which are inadequately researched due to: racial or other bias; their recent introduction into Western medicine; difficulty designing RCTs (ex: how the heck do you design placebo treatments like "sham reiki"); the difficulty of distinguishing the effect of a somatic treatment from a placebo treatment because placebo effects are themselves linked to the same mechanisms underlying many somatic practices; inability to observe or measure "superempirical" effects due to the limitations of current scientific knowledge; (actually, most of this wasn't really discussed in the book, but it's what I'm left thinking about...)
• healthcare provider authority; patient agency and self-efficacy

Anyway, I loved reading this. I would recommend it with the caveat that the book is very much focused on history and is not a primer on what mind-body medicine is or how it works.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine" is a history of the narratives used to describe the mind-body healing connection. The five narratives are the power of suggestion, the body that speaks, the power of positive thinking, broken by modern life, healing ties, and eastward journeys.

The chapter about the power of suggestion takes readers back to the beginning of this narrative, in which demonic possession needed to be cured by a priest's exorcism. Later, the religious nature was removed, and it was secularized into Mesmerism, the forerunner of hypnosis. Suggestion describes the healing wrought by an authority figure and accompanying rituals and theater. (Mesmerism used to take place in front of large public audiences...there wasn't TV back then, so it also functioned as entertainment.)

The body that speaks is a common narrative. For example, say you have a patient who is stressed out all the time because of a busy schedule. The narrative goes that her body will become sick and develop a physical illness to force her to slow down. This narrative originated from religious confessions of sin in order to be forgiven. The body must speak its truth and be acknowledged before healing can take place. This chapter also explored hysteria, in its original definition from the late 1800s as a female disorder, and shell shock/PTSD in men. In the 1970s, this narrative evolved into patients needing to trust their bodies and believe it if something was not right, even in the face of skeptical and uncaring doctors.

The power of positive thinking originated from the Catholic shrine of Lourdes and harken back to Jesus's words of "you have been healed because of your faith" or a similar version. This narrative was also secularized and became popular due to Norman Cousin's healing through laughter, and the placebo effect is discussed here. A downside to this narrative is if you do not heal yourself, it is your fault, and thus places blame at the patient's feet.

Broken by modern life describes how we are sicker today than ever before because of our hectic modern lives, and from here the term 'stress' was coined. Type A personalities and the risk of heart disease was discussed, and research began on the relationship between the immune & nervous systems. It began from stress making AIDS worse, and since AIDS is an immune condition, there must be some conversation somehow between the two systems, which were previously believed to exist completely separate.

Healing ties describes the importance of social support, including stories about children in orphanages who failed to thrive and women with breast cancer seeming to live longer through social support.

Eastward journeys takes readers into the exotic Eastern part of the world: China, Japan, and India. This narrative describes the importance of learning ancient wisdom from the East to heal ourselves in our modern dysfunctional lives. Also discussed are meditation, qi gong, and Buddhism (including the Dalai Lama) and how science is working to understand their benefits and learn how to apply the knowledge to the general population.

As someone who studies complementary alternative medicine, I have heard all of these narratives and have even claimed one or two for myself to understand my own health experiences. I did not know that the mind-body narratives originated from Judeo-Christianity, and I did not know how recently the term 'mind-body medicine' was coined. I also did not know when or how Westerners began looking to the East for healing practices, since the peoples had been looked down upon as uncivilized and were patronized by colonizers. I had read about the women with breast cancer, Romanian orphans, and the benefits of meditation, but I did not know about the Pennsylvania village that once had low heart disease rates compared to nearby towns. While it took me some time to read this book, it was good. I thought it was interesting and helpful to learn about the history and origins of mind-body medicine, and how it has shifted back and forth between science, laypeople, and popular culture throughout its history. I have a much better understanding of the mind-body medicine/holistic health narratives. I do not discount them because they help us draw meaning from our experiences, and ultimately I think they could be cathartic and empowering. Just so long as we don't start victim-blaming patients for their illnesses, because germ theory is a thing, after all.

[Zach Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, if a bit dry. Takes a cool look at the history of the intertwining between the mind and its ability (or inability) to heal the body, through topics as varied as mesmerism, psychotherapy, positive thinking, mindfulness and meditation, and stress. Mostly interesting to look at the history of the creation of ideas like stress and how ideas about cancer have developed. The book doesn't really give any answers, though, instead presenting conflicting studies about every topic presented, making me somewhat wonder what the large point was.

QUOTES
In her comparative work on aging in Japan and North America, Margaret Lock found that when older women in Japan stop menstruating, they rarely experience the hot flashes and night sweats that are associated with menopause in North America. In fact, it turned out the Japanese have no word for a hot flash.

“It is not enough to cure the sick; you have to cure them with methods accepted by the community.” 

In 1960, when the writer Norman Mailer was arraigned for stabbing his wife in the chest and abdomen with a penknife, his defense lawyers explained that their client believed that, had he repressed his rage at that moment, he would have gone on to develop cancer.

And more particularly, they had all learned that the process of dying was infinitely eased when one did not die alone: as a group, they had learned that they could give this gift of connection and companionship to one another.

Similarly, we understand better the persuasiveness of our contemporary beliefs in the therapeutic power of speaking dangerous truths out loud - during hypnosis, or lying down on a couch- if we recognize that they evolved in part out of ancient religious beliefs about the healing power of confession, including the forced confessions of a demon being exorcised by a priest. There may be better reasons than we sometimes realize for why people sometimes talk about “exorcising their demons” in psychotherapy.

“The universe desires you to have everything you want to have. Nature is friendly to your plans. Everything is naturally for you. Make up your mind that this is true.” - Wallace Wattles

“The secret of health and happiness lies in successful adjustment to the ever-changing conditions on this globe; the penalties for failure in this great process of adaptation are disease and unhappiness.” - Hans Selye

In every age and sex category, people who in 1965 had reported the fewest social ties were, nine years later, up to three times more likely to have died than those who had reported the most social ties. This correlation held true even after factors such as socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol use, obesity, physical activity, and use of preventive health services were accounted for.

[Aleš Bednařík · Rating 4 out of 5]

Výborná kniha o psychosomatike či mind-body medicíne. Teda, ani nehovorí tak o medicíne, ale skôr o historických koreňoch ako sa jednotlivé presvedčenia menili a ovplyvňovali moderné populárne prúdy psychosomatických presvedčení od medicíny až po new-age. Šesť kapitol sa venuje šiestim základným presvedčeniam:
1. Sila sugescie - o reálnych a prehnaných presvedčeniach ako mysľou vieme liečiť chorého ducha a telo - od exorcizmu až po placebo efekt.
2. O tele, čo k nám hovorí - o presvedčeniach, že naše telo nám signalizuje do podvedomia potlačené emócie a zážitky a tak nám dáva na vedomie, čo máme zo sebou robiť - o tom ako z vedomia vytláčame veci do podvedomia, ako podvedomie komunikuje s telom a telo nám dáva na vedomie, čo sa s nami deje.
3. Sila pozitívneho myslenia - o presvedčeniach ako pozitívnym myslením dokážeme liečiť a o nadšení zo zázračnej moci mysle.
4. Zlomení moderným životom - o strese a presvedčeniach ako nás moderný životný štýl stresom zabíja.
5. Liečiace väzby - o presvedčeniach ako nás samota zabíja a ľudské vzťahy liečia.
6. Cesty na východ - o nadšení pre všetko východné/ázijské a ako sa nadšenie z orientálnych metód liečenia stal v rozvinutých krajinách alternatívny mainstream.
Veľmi zaujímavá kniha o vývine týchto presvedčení a ich vplyve na popkultúru a vedu. Skúma aj to ako vedecké výskumy ovplyvnili mainstreamové myslenie (stres) a naopak ako popkultúrne nadšenie pre isté veci (meditácia) ovplyvnilo výskumy v daných oblastiach.
Veľmi zaujímavé na tejto knihe je aj to ako ukazuje vývoj týchto presvedčení cez príbehy (narratives), v ktorých sa aj mení spôsob nielen ako si vysvetľujeme jednotlivé psychosomatické procesy, ale dokonca aj to ako ľudia psychosomaticky inak reagujú, keď veria odlišným narratives (príbehom). Napríklad - ľudia v stredoveku verili v posadnutosť a reagovali tak ako majú posadnutí reagovať - dokonca hovorili typickým hlasom diabla, lebo exorcisti hovorili priamo s diablom v tele. Avšak rovnako "posadnutí" ľudia, ale protestanti, iným hlasom nehovorili, pretože protestanti vyháňali diabla inak.
Kniha podľa mojej chuti :-)

[Mary J Starry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting review of the history of the concepts of the placebo effect, the mind over body concept of healing, mindfulness in terms of healing and meditation used for stress relief. Amazing how many studies have been done on all of these and very interesting to read both the studies and the anecdotes. Did not realize the airflight controllers in 1981 were hoping a study conducted on them would find high cortisol levels that would support their claim that they were overly stressed.

Whether you believe the claims or not, you'll find this an interesting read.

[Peter Petrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prof Anne Harrington has an admirable pedigree including education at best learning institutions. That, and her academic accomplishments promise a great read. Indeed, the reader will not be disappointed. The text is well organized and the scientific sections are presented in language understandable to a lay person . She is a an excellent narrator and the pace through the book keeps the reader interested. The only exception is in my opinion the last chapter: Conclusions, which I found tedious and convoluted. Certainly a book worth reading.

[Sarah Jesmain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was assigned this book for my college Mind Body Medicine course. After 3.5 years of undergrad, being assigned this book in my last semester was a surprising little gift. I looked forward to reading chapters each week and discussing in class. Going to a healthcare centered college, we often discuss how we can implement mind body medicine concepts in clinical practice- I won’t go into details, but I believe this book is a great place for healthcare student and professionals to start if they are looking to provide holistic, patient-centered, or other types of care that are supportive of the whole body and mind.

[Joshua Nelson]

Excellent book. A history that takes you from mesmerism to MBSR. Harrington's book is one of those that you won't set down for too long, you'll want to read it cover to cover. She continually brushes up against the notion that mind-body are two separate phenomena and seeks to create a bridge in a long held western notion that curing mind is separate from curing body. To supplement this I would recommend reading "Between Heaven and Earth".

[Paul Mojaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tracks the pattern found throughout history of the vanguard of science being used to authenticate otherwise inexplicable “mind cures” eg positive thinking based on eddy’s Christian science, mesmer’s gravitational energy, chopra’s quantum energy, maharishi’s transcendental meditation, harvard’s materialist buddhism, etc.

Overall, this perspective encourages the reader to apply conscious attention towards the strategic shaping of the “how come?” in medical treatment (particularly when a mechanism of treatment is not fully understood), via a pragmatical lens.

[Jesse Jost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book fascinating. A subject that has interested me for a long time. Well done.

[Alice Ye · Rating 5 out of 5]

A no-nonsense historical account of the rise of mind-body medicine in the US.

[Ian Hamilton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly academic and poorly structured.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book if you're into this type of stuff. Worth a read, took me a while but I'm glad I finished it.

[Anna Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not an easy book to read, The Cure Within is nonetheless the best summary of the state of mind-body medicine around. The author is a prodigious researcher, and brings the mind of a scientist and the heart of a historian to the subject matter; she reveals how we got to our present attitude toward mind-body medicine and in the process, connects the dots from ancient times to today.

However, the book is so dense with information that after finishing it, I felt forced to read it through once more, and in doing so, picked up a great deal more than I had the first time. It's also written in a monotone, as though the author were delivering it in one long, record-breaking breath. And yet, perhaps, that might have been wise, as the style deflects any sense of sensationalism or silliness in a subject that often attracts just that from other writers.

All in all, there are few books out there that display this kind of interdisciplinary wisdom and insightful commentary. However, as other reviewers have pointed out, she is careful to avoid a point of view; would she herself prefer acupuncture to anesthesia? Would she practice meditiation or take a valium? You have to guess.

[Finbar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one starts off well, but falters near the end and then falls flat on its face with the conclusion. I liked the narrative survey format that is used, but there are many associative leaps used to tie together the ideas presented in order to make them fit the narrative structure. Harrington also relies on loaded language to make her point where simply stating her case would have been more effective. She ends up distracting the reader from her argument and bringing her own bias into the dialogue. By the end of the book, she is quoting empty statistics (numbers of results of Amazon.com searches? really?) and undercuts her own approach to quantifying the subject.

In the end, it was an interesting topic and a fair attempt to give the reader a general survey of mind-body approaches to health over the last 200 years of Western history. But the insertion of judgmental language and arguments that are self-hypocritical take away from the book.

[Jjryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The "feel-good title" belies the author's scholarly, yet commercially accessible, premise of the history of mind-body connection in the modern West from the 1600s to today. She divides the movement into six narrative templates (skeptical, detective, secular miracle, lament, redemption, exoticism) to address the conceptual and therapeutic shortcoming in biomedical medicine. She traces the historical figures and developments that have brought mind-body medicine to where it stands today, from the religious, secular, political and scientific underpinnings of mesmerism, hypnosis, positive thinking, the placebo effect, through the medical culture of meditation, and addresses how the history of body-mind medicine has involved not just changes in ideas and theories, but changes in the sorts of embodied experiences people have had over time.

[Alisha Niehaus Berger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fascinating look at the different narratives we have about mind/body healing--that our bodies are "broken by modern life," that "positive thinking" can sometimes do more than doctors...and most intriguing, the historical origins of these stories. What I found particularly interesting is that not only do these different narratives about how our minds/bodies work together and/or don't help us make sense of illness, they also *define* how we can make sense of it at all. Not that any of it makes any sense...but there's great stuff here for the scientific-minded and the holistic-touchy-feely minded. Read the book; it makes more sense than I do.

[JMM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Anne Harrington provides a clear and interesting history of mind-body medicine by looking at it from six different viewpoints. I liked that structure and appreciated taking this historical look at a topic I've heard quite a lot about over the last years. I only wish the author, chair of Harvard's History of Science Department, had revealed more about her own opinions in the concluding chapter.

[Ann S-V · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good historical (history of science) approach to mind-body medicine as it is related to and imbedded in cultural context. Excellent bibliography. Very neutrally written - the focus is on the historical development of mind-body medicine rather than a consideration of the 'authenticity' of claims of healing. Good reference book/jumping off point for considerations of m-b healing in different time periods.

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Freud is a d*ck. But you knew that, right? I was hoping for something less of what this book was. It was a look at how medicine and mental health evolved together, with glimpses into PTSD and other mental illnesses using very specific case studies. Do check out George Carlin's bit on how shell-shock turned into PTSD. But skip this book. It read more like a report or high school thesis paper.

[Kian Hattar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a drama student and part of my project was to read about pain and understand it, although it's a medical book but it was written in a very easy way flowing smoothly that didn't make it hard for me to understand. very strong, intensive and describes very well the history of mind body illnesses and patients' experiences.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book for anyone interested in health generally, and esp health care workers. well written, organized around 6 "narratives" with solid historical info. saw this one favorably reviewed in NYTimes and so glad i found it in local library. will probably purchase a copy.

[Ida]

NYT review makes it look interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/boo...

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, clear, really gets at the six fundamental narratives we tell ourseslves in understanding the relationship to mind/body in sickness and healing.
Outstanding

[Hiten Soni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must read for anyone in heath care field.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be shared at a later time.

[Sukjoon Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and informative book I ever read.

[Marc Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally interesting, but too often dull look at the history of mind-body medicine. Harrington's work is solid, but the chapters are a bit disjointed.