- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1ST edition (June 22, 1994)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671770004
- ISBN-13: 978-0671770006
From Publishers Weekly
Pelletier ( Mind As Healer, Mind As Slayer ), a senior clinical fellow at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention at the Stanford University School of Medicine, focuses much of his attention here on a Rockefeller-funded study he conducted chronicling the lives of 51 notables, among them Norman Lear, David Rockefeller and the late Norman Cousins, who he believes have enjoyed exemplary physical and mental health. The author contends that long-term health depends more on a positive orientation than on aerobic workouts or a special diet, emphasizing that no way of life can guarantee freedom from disease and disability--or can ensure longevity. To understand the meaning of health, he adds, it is necessary to broaden its definition beyond the physical. Optimal health requires an integration of physical, mental, spiritual and environmental well-being; health is an attitude comprising our basic beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. Though not all readers will be deeply interested in the health of the rich and famous, what does stand out is Pelletier's presentation of the extensive research now being undertaken to better understand the mind/body connection and its relationship to health.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
"Health is the psychological adjustment to the extraordinary experience of living life in its fullest expression." Such is a major conclusion of psychiatrist Pelletier's lengthy, detailed study of 51 outstanding individuals, most of whom stressed the importance of personal control, optimism, altruism, prevention rather than treatment, and moderation in all things--even in seeking medical care. (Indeed, most had used alternative therapies, several for prolonged periods.) Pelletier consciously emphasizes the personal element in his study, and because he strongly felt the importance of this he did not try to create a "scientific" investigation. Thus, although he mentions many books and articles for the reader to consult, he frequently sets quotations from the interviews in the context of broaching the recent literature on a particular topic. Throughout, he advances sound suggestions and techniques for the realistic improvement of personal health. William Beatty
From Kirkus Reviews
An ambitious, sometimes ponderous, examination of the nature of health by the director of the corporate health program at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Pelletier (Healthy People in Unhealthy Places, 1983, etc.) interviewed over 50 successful and prominent men and women across the US to discover what common elements in their lifestyles enabled them to achieve a ``healthy balance of mind, body, and environment.'' Among those interviewed who agreed to be identified are David Rockefeller, Murray Gell-Mann, Norman Cousins, Dennis Weaver, Norman Lear, and Lindsay Wagner. Excerpts from the interviews identify the following elements: coping successfully with early life trauma; a sense of control over the course of one's life; a sense of purpose combined with personal discipline; moderation in personal health practices; the ability to attain a state of mental and physical quiet when needed; social support derived from connection to others; and action- oriented spiritual values expressed through assistance to others. Most chapters conclude with a list of recommendations, based on these interviews and on research by others, on how one can enhance one's own health. These take the form of specific dietary practices, stress-management techniques, coping skills, and other practical ``action steps.'' Pelletier's view is that what our country has now is not primarily a health care system but a disease-management system and that what is needed is an approach that encourages individuals to take responsibility for their own health, to reach out and help others who are less fortunate, and to help the nation as a whole solve its social and environmental problems. A holistic health lecture, loaded with personal anecdotes and research data, that often sounds as though it were being delivered from a pulpit. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Description
The author of Mind As Healer, Mind As Slayer reveals a new model for optimal health, based on a four-year study of the positive-minded, purpose-oriented techniques of prominent people. 40,000 first printing. Tour.
