Product Description

Stress, anxiety and depression are among the most common reasons for people to see the doctor. The drugs targeting these conditions are pharmaceutical bestsellers. Yet a majority of patients would like to be able to heal without taking drugs or engaging in therapy that involves talking about their problems. Dr Servan-Schreiber gathers together, in one place, the answers to the public's questions about alternatives to drugs and talk therapy. He discusses only treatment methods he has used with patients himself, methods which have been proven to work in clinical studies. Beautifully written, with many pertinent case histories, this book will be a revelation to those who dismiss alternative medicine and a godsend to those who are looking for help without taking drugs and without talk therapy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7012 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
"'A brilliant job of bringing together insights and information of vital importance for well-being.' Daniel Goleman, Ph.D, author of Emotional Intelligence"

About the Author
Dr David Servan-Schreiber is clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-founder of the Center for Complementary Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He has published more than 90 scientific monographs and lectures at leading academic centres around the world. One of the original members of the board of Medecins Sans Frontieres, USA, he worked in the ground in India, Kosovo and elsewhere.

Customer Reviews

A well informed view of the workings of the mind body system
As a working hypnotherapist I was thrilled to see such a congruent explanation of the relationships between the cognative and emotional minds and the 'mind of the heart'.
Our efforts as humans to live a happy and healthy life depend on our ability to balance the above and when we fail in this we suffer our pain and illness.
What sheer delight to read on and discover that this balance can be easily achieved by following the seven healing techniques which have been practiced and clinically trialed and proven by the author and his collegues. I was able to discover and heal a long standing emotional wound from my early childhood and free myself of the defensive behavior I used to hide it. If you are suffering emotional, physical or spiritual disfunction, buy, read and do this work!

At last, some practical advice and help
So many of the books that attempt to deal with depression and anxiety promise so much and deliver nothing more than verbose and vague suggestions that simply don't work.
This book succeeds where many many others fail. The author has brought together in one place a simple and accessible explanation of the latest therapies and treatments for depression that are not based on the current sacred cows of drugs we don't entirely understand and talking therapies that don't appear to have ever cured a single patient.
He looks at such developments such as EMDR and Heart Coherence and how diet and lifestyle can be altered to significantly improve ones mental state. Most imporatantly he lists contact details for organisations that practice these methods.

Revolutionary!

More detail perhaps but excellent nonetheless!
As someone who was an indirect victim of depression, I have since read quite widely on topics related to all aspects of depression, anxiety and how best to combat them. This book offers information on several techniques which could potentially help combat the "drug 'em up and ship 'em out again" attitude that seems to be so prevalent nowadays, especially among US doctors.

As a medical student, I think this book is excellent in the way it offers alternative suggestions to medication however I would have appreciated more detail into the explanations of how the alternatives work. (I suppose that's what the list of references is for though).

The book is filled with real life cases from the authors practice which are used to get points across. These may make the book more accessible to the lay reader but in my opinion, only take up space which could be used in explaining topics in more detail. That's my only issue with an otherwise excellent book.

Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the health of the mind.