- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd (3 Jun 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0684817829
- ISBN-13: 978-0684817828
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.6 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 515,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Travelled
'Fascinating… a gold mine of information about the integration of body, mind and soul.'
Product Description
A demonstration of the way in which belief in a higher power can have a positive health benefit. The author explores the ways in which belief can contribute to health and well-being and the implications this has for both the individual and society.
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First Sentence
When I was a student at Harvard Medical School, I was taught that the greater part of what I was learning about the human body would be obsolete within five years. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When I was a student at Harvard Medical School, I was taught that the greater part of what I was learning about the human body would be obsolete within five years. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Timeless Healing: The power and biology of belief, by Herbert Benson, Fireside (Scribner), New York, 1997, 352 ff.
A medical account of the influence of mental attitude on bodily health
By Howard Jones
Here, a physician presents his professional experience of cases where attitude of mind or belief had a remarkable effect on the physical health of his patients. In this respect, the book is mostly anecdotal - but none the less persuasive for that! It provides a clinical complement to Candace Pert's "Molecules of Emotion", which is largely biochemical. In Benson's own words: `the entire book [is] about the fact that beliefs have physical repercussions [and] that the human spirit [is] influential in the treatment and prevention of illnesses.' The patient, the caregiver and the relationship between the two are all considered important. There is sharp criticism of the American (and, by implication, of the British) medical care system for its enthusiasm for change, and for its heavy reliance on new technologies and drugs. Benson does not suggest that these new techniques should not be used, only that caregivers should not lose sight of the emotional, subjective feelings and beliefs of the patients.
These beliefs may involve a benevolent God, or an awareness of some kind of overarching spirituality, or simply a patient's belief that they were going to get well, perhaps by having been given placebo medication. Whatever the source of inspiration, the patient's belief in themselves could produce, or at least contribute to, wellness. But the reverse is also true. Belief in a vengeful God, or that one deserved one's ill-health, or that the disease prognosis was hopeless - the nocebo - had a markedly detrimental effect. In this context, Benson distinguishes two types of physiological events: `bottom-up' events where the brain responds to sensory signals or physical interventions, and `top-down' events where the body responds symptomatically to mental images of wellness or illness.
There are nearly 30 pages of References of research papers and books giving details of the clinical settings and experiments producing these results, including several from the world of complementary medicine. Most of the references are American, as we might expect from an American physician, but some British medical publications are included as well. Overall, the book is very readable and informative. It makes a worthy counter to the propaganda disseminated by British obscurantists like Professors David Colquhoun and Richard Dawkins who dismiss alternative medicine and mind-body interaction as imaginative nonsense. This book offers an uplifting, optimistic philosophy of life with the empirical evidence to indicate that such a positive world-view is effective in producing or maintaining health.
Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, UK.
Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel
You Can Heal Your Life: 20th Anniversary Edition
The Power Of Intention: Change The Way You Look At Things And The Things You Look At Will Change: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way
A medical account of the influence of mental attitude on bodily health
By Howard Jones
Here, a physician presents his professional experience of cases where attitude of mind or belief had a remarkable effect on the physical health of his patients. In this respect, the book is mostly anecdotal - but none the less persuasive for that! It provides a clinical complement to Candace Pert's "Molecules of Emotion", which is largely biochemical. In Benson's own words: `the entire book [is] about the fact that beliefs have physical repercussions [and] that the human spirit [is] influential in the treatment and prevention of illnesses.' The patient, the caregiver and the relationship between the two are all considered important. There is sharp criticism of the American (and, by implication, of the British) medical care system for its enthusiasm for change, and for its heavy reliance on new technologies and drugs. Benson does not suggest that these new techniques should not be used, only that caregivers should not lose sight of the emotional, subjective feelings and beliefs of the patients.
These beliefs may involve a benevolent God, or an awareness of some kind of overarching spirituality, or simply a patient's belief that they were going to get well, perhaps by having been given placebo medication. Whatever the source of inspiration, the patient's belief in themselves could produce, or at least contribute to, wellness. But the reverse is also true. Belief in a vengeful God, or that one deserved one's ill-health, or that the disease prognosis was hopeless - the nocebo - had a markedly detrimental effect. In this context, Benson distinguishes two types of physiological events: `bottom-up' events where the brain responds to sensory signals or physical interventions, and `top-down' events where the body responds symptomatically to mental images of wellness or illness.
There are nearly 30 pages of References of research papers and books giving details of the clinical settings and experiments producing these results, including several from the world of complementary medicine. Most of the references are American, as we might expect from an American physician, but some British medical publications are included as well. Overall, the book is very readable and informative. It makes a worthy counter to the propaganda disseminated by British obscurantists like Professors David Colquhoun and Richard Dawkins who dismiss alternative medicine and mind-body interaction as imaginative nonsense. This book offers an uplifting, optimistic philosophy of life with the empirical evidence to indicate that such a positive world-view is effective in producing or maintaining health.
Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, UK.
Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel
You Can Heal Your Life: 20th Anniversary Edition
The Power Of Intention: Change The Way You Look At Things And The Things You Look At Will Change: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
11 reviews
45 of 47 people found the following review helpful
The Mind/body connection
29 Jan 2000
Format:Paperback
Dr Benson presents strong evidence for what others have called the "mind / body connection." Mainstream medical science has not yet recognized the importance belief plays in health but, Dr. Benson presents numerous studies that validate the major role belief plays in the healing process and wellness. Practitioners of complimentary therapies will find this book especially helpful in understanding how many non-drug based therapies can work. Well written and thought provoking!
46 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Faith in God turbo-charges our indwelling healing nature
20 Nov 2000
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I think what is amazing about this book is that Herbert Benson states without a doubt that faith in God is healthy for us. While our ancestors took it for granted that God healed them, as Dr. Benson explains, we have been taught to see healing purely in technical scientific terms. Dr. Benson explains that when we repudiated the importance of belief in healing we deprived ourselves of a powerful healing force.
Dr. Benson knows that his rational-scientific audience will be skeptical of his arguements. So, he provides us with well-reasoned arguements supported by ample evidence. He explains that we need to relax our over-stressed minds on a regular basis. We need this as an antedote to our hurried lives that stress us out and make us sick. He cites many studies (much from his own research) that daily meditation stimulates the bodies natural healing mechanisms.
Now, the radical finding of Dr. Benson's research is that belief in God makes a difference in healing. If a person meditates regularly using a spiritual phrase they are more likely to heal than those who use a secular word such as "peace". The person's religion doesn't matter. It seems that God is an equal opportunity healer.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Easy to read, Understand and Put into Practice
19 Mar 2007
Format:Paperback
This is a well-written book that clearly describes the links between our thoughts and our physical health. It is written in an accessible personal style, without the "guru" overtones of works by Deepak Chopra or Wayne Dyer (good writers, just with a different style). Everyone, regardless of their view of God, can benfit from the concepts of Remembered Wellness and the Relaxation Response described in this book. A personal recomendation - couple this book, with its "unproven healing energy", with Greg Bradden's "The Divine Matrix", which describes this energy, and you will be good to go.
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