Very interesting. For about the past 2 years, I've been suffering from mysterious symptoms that seem to have no physical origin. My doctors have suggested that it's "in my head" or "stress related illness" and I'm completely open to that idea (in fact I welcome it). However, the biggest problem I've had is, "Where the heck do I go from there?" If it's all in my head, how do I get it out of my head?

I'm definitely going to give this book a read. I am thankful for your suggestion :-)

P.S. I hesitate to mention this, but my wife belongs to some weird religious group here in Japan. They believe in spiritual healing. For this kind of problem it seems really ideal. Unfortunately for me, it's completely ineffective because I just can't take it seriously. She's always frustrated because she can't heal my problems, even though I should be an ideal candidate. Going through the problems I've had has completely changed my attitude toward the potential benefits so called spiritual things. On the one hand I have doctors saying, "It's all in your head, so you can't be cured" and on the other I get "It's all in your head, so praise the divine being and all will be cured". It would be tempting if I could ever stomach that kind of thing.

Sarno actually recommends going to a psychologist and talking about your emotions as his number one prescription.

But you could try to just "do it yourself" by learning to recognize and give yourself permission to actually feel your emotions. Ask yourself if you are angry, frustrated, irritated, annoyed, afraid, anxious, hurt, or upset in any way. Because it is these kind of "negative" emotions are the ones that tend to manifest themselves as pain in your body if you ignore them for too long.

Then let yourself just feel that emotion for a while. Really just sit with the emotion and don't get distracted by thoughts. Just feel it. And then after you are sure you have felt it as strong as you can feel it, then you try to think about what might be causing it. Really articulate it well to yourself in great detail. What exactly happened at the moment that the emotion started, who was there, what did they they do and what did you do? And then try to name the emotion. Put it into words what it is you are feeling. And then the last step is to ask yourself what you have learned from this situation. If you could do anything differently or see things differently when a similar situation happens in the future.

> My doctors have suggested that it's "in my head" or "stress related illness" and I'm completely open to that idea

I think the biggest misconception is that when doctors tell you that it's all in your head. The pain is real, as real as the pain you get during a leg cramp and it's caused by the ANS (autonomic nervous system) because of a mild oxygen deprivation (about 5%).

It is harmless and completely reversible but that does not mean it's not there. It's very real. This is a very important thing to understand explained in the book.

I recommend reading what Mark Twain’s experiences with Christian Science was. (Which was that everything is imaginary?)

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3187

Well, I think his book very clearly spells out the other problems with those kinds of organisations. :-) Definitely not my thing, but I have a more nuanced view of things these days.

Long-term outcomes with many modern medicines are negative compared to that of a placebo.

I am so thankful that I came across a comment about Sarno's book here on hn! I had tried sooooo many things. I was frequenly getting completely locked up in my back - it was all just a tight ball of pain. Then Sarno told me it was because I was manifesting repressed emotions in my body, and b-i-n-g-o. As soon as I started asking myself "What's bothering me?", "What am I upset about", and gave myself time and permission to actual feel those emotions, I could feel the knot melt away.

Sarno's book should be added to those lists of best programming books. Along with "Say Good Night to Insomnia".

Back pain + insomnia both cured within days of reading each of these. Thankfully I only suffered a few weeks of each before getting my hands on these books.

I have to say, every time I come across this book, it seems like bullshit not backed by any science at all and yet it gets rave reviews on HN. As a one-time thing, I can put it off towards some propaganda campaign ala Tim Ferris / The four hour body but this is a pattern. Don't know what to make of it really.

You are not alone. This might be the 3rd or 4th time I am seeing this and thinking the same.

Well, perhaps it's time to put some science behind it and do some RCTs ...

I've noticed the same pattern. There must be something to it.

Indeed, the first I heard of it was from Y Combinator's own Aaron Iba: http://aaroniba.net/how-i-cured-my-rsi-pain

I think the raving is due to four factors:

- It sets off every rational person's bullshit detector.

- It works anyway.

- The effort required is minimal (just reading the book is enough for many people).

- The payoff is life-changing.

When you experience all this first-hand (as I did), it's hard to not become an evangelist. It has no business working, and it yet it does. In this community, I think we have a strong desire to share bewildering things like that with each other.