AARP When the Body Says No

Health and medicine

First published: 2003
Print length: 320 pagesWiley & Sons, Incorporated, John, 2012

Description

Gabor Maté examines how emotional strain and psychological stress can contribute to the development of chronic illness. Drawing on medical research and stories of people living with cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and other conditions, the book explores the connection between emotional experience and physical health. It traces relationships among stress, emotion, and the nervous, immune, and hormonal systems, presenting the medical science in accessible language. By challenging a strict separation between mind and body, Maté encourages readers to consider these interactions and take a more active role in their health.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Conversational · Direct · Journalistic

Pace

Moderate

Tone

Cerebral · Earnest · Intimate · Reflective

Structure

Argumentative

Focus

Argument · Ideas · Information

Emotional intensity

4 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 3 / 5
Ideas: 4 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 2 / 5

Themes

Knowledge and truthMental healthMortalityTransformationTrauma

About Gabor Maté

Gabor Maté is a Canadian physician and author whose work brings clinical experience to questions of trauma, stress, development, addiction, and physical illness. Drawing on family practice, work with people experiencing substance-use disorders, medical research, case histories, and personal experience, he presents health through a biopsychosocial lens. His books repeatedly ask how early emotional environments and wider social conditions shape behavior, self-regulation, and vulnerability to disease. Scattered applies this approach to attention deficit disorder, while When the Body Says No examines links between chronic stress and illness. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts grounds his account of addiction in encounters with patients, treating compulsive drug use as an attempt to manage emotional pain rather than simply a failure of will. The Myth of Normal extends the argument from individual histories to cultural conditions that normalize disconnection and distress. Maté’s distinctive strength is this movement between intimate clinical stories and broad explanatory claims, though commentators have questioned the scope and evidentiary basis of some conclusions.

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, John
Language: English
ISBN: 9781118247488

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