Now (taran-tara!) for my featured Medical Book of the Year!

It is wonderful! Brilliant! Go out and buy it. Then take on ‘prescription’ (as laid out below).

Only remember the ‘health warnings’ from the above reviews:

• That the ‘one size fits all’ approach is not likely to be the answer (whether it is for stress, anxiety and depression, using Prozac and the other SSRI drugs, or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and ‘EMDR’ as championed here)
• That we do not want medicine to take over our lives
• That we need to look at all the evidence
• And think about how best to deal with life’s uncertainties
• And check how far this is this another evangelical Faith movement

Background:
Dr Servan-Schreiber is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, and co-founder of the Center for Complementary Medicine at the University’s Medical Center. Widely published, he was also one of the original members of the USA board of Medicin sans Frontieres.

Guérir le stress, l’anxieté et la depression sans médicaments ni psychanalyse: was first published in France. The book was then translated into English under the title The Instinct to Heal, before being metamorphosed to its current title of Healing without Freud or Prozac. Guérir carries the meaning in French both to cure and to heal, the mix of both treatment from without and recovery from within in complementary but opposing action. Healing of course means something else, something connected with wholeness and health, and to heal denotes action towards more transcendent goals. Guérir is humbler, more earthbound, more orientated to being simply helpful and practical.

The use of the “stress” word in the French title is also important. Everybody suffers from stress and the book is for everyone, not simply those who are clinically ill. As an everyman guide, there is also a linked website to go to, www.nofreudnoprozac.org, which provides more detail and up to date information about the Integrated Healthcare treatment modalities that the book recommends. This makes it as useful for the ‘beginner’ as for an ‘experienced’ healthcare practitioner.

Prescription:
Although it is of course possible to read the book from start to end, for the general reader it is more likely that some parts of it are going to be of more value and interest than others. Proceed with the book this-wise:

1. Read the Summary on page 21; the aim is to find ‘Coherence’. This is a research based approach that shows that recovery from stress, anxiety and depression can be achieved through the natural healing mechanisms of the body.
2. Consider the potential positive effect of the ‘Heart-Brain-System’ that links our emotional feelings with our physical state of health. Read the pages 225 – 229.
3. Have a quick look at the seven natural treatment modalities presented in the book. Then quickly read the first three Chapters that help to explain the workings of our Autonomic Nervous System; how an over-active Sympathetic System can create illness, and how the Parasympathetic System can create positive health. Don’t try to understand it all, just get the general idea.
4. Now work out the most important treatment modalities for you (probably choose 2 or 3), and read the relevant chapters more carefully. The modalities are:
   1. The Practice of Heart Coherence
   2. Addressing Painful Memories
   3. Managing Conflict, and Enriching Relationships
   4. Maximising Omega 3 Fatty Acids in the Diet
   5. Getting High on Exercise
   6. Waking up to the Sun (Dawn Simulation Devices)
   7. Acupuncture

Begin to Plan; read ‘Getting Started’ (Chapter 15). But remember, take it one step at a time.

As Coherence develops in your life, go deeper. Look for wider connections. Follow up the Resources listed in the book (even read the research references if you have time). Team up with an Integrated Healthcare practitioner if this is what is you feel you need.

FEEDBACK: I am interested in getting your feedback. Tell me how you get on with this book: what works well, and what works less well. Contact me on max@drmaxim.co.uk

Dr. Max Mackay- James is a GP in Poundbury, Dorset.