Mind, Body, and Medicine: An Intergrative Text

Abstract

The author analyzes the mind–body interplay from a physiological viewpoint while drawing on diverse disciplines to demonstrate the scientific basis, clinical picture, and management of psychosomatic disorders. He provides a comprehensive analysis of how stress mediates psychosomatic conditions and a description of the physiological basis of the placebo response. He also includes a unifying account of the effects of stress on the immune system consistent with the principles of modern immunology. Among the medical disorders that he discusses in detail are ischemic heart diesease, diabetes mellitus, migraine, lower back pain, other chronic pain syndromes, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. He also covers important psychiatric conditions present in the medical clinic such as panic, other anxiety disorders, depression, and posttraumatic stress syndrome. An analysis of the physiological principles underlying cognitive behavioral therapy helps define the essential elements of this widely used techniques, and many other chapters contain practical advice on treatment. The book will be a resource for physicians and mental health practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: jacket)