Anyone interested in the relationship between psychology and disease knows how difficult it can be to find worthwhile books on psychosomatics. And the point is not that there is little such literature, just bookstores and the Internet are filled with a mass of publications, and it can be very, very difficult to make a choice. Not all books are equally useful, and not every book will answer your questions.
To facilitate the task of choosing, we have compiled a list of the most useful and interesting books on the psychosomatic and psychological aspects of our diseases and diseases of children, which will be understandable even for beginners interested in this topic.
What is psychosomatics?
Psychosomatics (or psychosomatic medicine) is an area of medical knowledge in which physiology, anatomy and psychology are closely intertwined.
Simply put, she explains why "all diseases are from the nerves." To fully understand this statement, it is important to understand how the mind and body are interconnected.
Psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and psychoanalysts have long followed large groups of patients with similar medical diagnoses. They managed to find many common personality traits, character, styles of behavior, emotional state among them. This is the basis of the science called psychosomatics.
In other words, it allows you to understand how and by what means a person makes this or that disease for himself. In a state of chronic stress, a lot of processes aimed at mobilization take place inside the body: adrenaline and cortisone are produced, muscles are tense.
If the stress is prolonged, then the stress becomes almost constant, which causes impaired blood circulation, metabolism and, ultimately, the work of certain organs and systems. People create illnesses for themselves with long-term fears and anger, aggression, resentment.
Sometimes they need diseases in order to achieve certain goals, for example, to attract attention to themselves, to control loved ones, to command them. Sometimes illness is a departure from reality, in which a person becomes unbearable to live.
Detection of the problem and adequate psychotherapy can get rid of the disease, find peace of mind and good physical shape.
What to read?
It is possible to recommend a specific book, but only taking into account the area of interest of the person. Some are looking for an answer to the question why they are sick and medications do not help, others are interested in child psychosomatics and are looking for the cause of their child's illness. There are those who, with the help of psychosomatic knowledge, want to prevent diseases, live a long and healthy life.
Some people hope with the help of this knowledge not only to improve their health, but also to become happier, richer, to fulfill their cherished dreams, because the mechanisms for achieving goals and methods of obtaining health, from the point of view of psychology, are largely identical.
Some people are more savvy in these areas, the knowledge of others in this is minimal.
In order to understand psychosomatics, it is not necessary to have a higher medical education. All you need is a great desire and a good book that will tell you about everything available.
For beginners
Dmitry Leushkin "Turbo-gopher"
This book is perfect for young and middle-aged people. Elderly people probably won't like it because it is crudely written. The author calls things by their proper names, does not look for beautiful synonyms.
The main idea is to comprehend your subconscious "I"... The subconscious mind can find the answer to the questions of where illnesses and failures come from, and also tell you where to move in order to achieve freedom and fulfillment of all desires.
Leushkin tells how to correctly set a task for the subconscious, so that the body begins to work solely for the goal to become a reality.
Leushkin suggests reprogramming the subconscious, eliminating all destructive attitudes that live in it and prevent a person from being healthy and happy.
For "reflashing" the subconscious, certain words, phrases, sentences are offered, which will launch the program, a person, in fact, does not need to do anything else.
But words and programs are free only at the initial stage, then it is proposed to go to Leushkin's website and buy a more advanced version of the "flashing" there. In addition, there are many things in the book that, in principle, contradict medicine, psychotherapy, and even ordinary common sense. But for those who want to know themselves, there is information useful for the initial stage, which does not run counter to science.
Alexander Lowen "Depression and the Body"
The book is intended for everyone, written in a simple and fun language. Its author is one of the founders of bioenergetics, an experienced psychotherapist who perfectly understands what he is talking about and why he is doing it. The main idea is that the human body is like a musical instrument. If an instrument is tuned and a talented person plays it, then the music sounds beautiful, if not tuned, you can't play a melody on it, even if you are a great maestro.
Lowen gives practical advice on how to tune your body, how to listen and hear its signals. The plus is that the book contains a large number of exercises that help restore your physical condition and emotional balance in a variety of situations. They are combined with a psychotherapeutic approach, which is also important.
The book is easy to read by both professionals and beginners. The author tried to make sure that there were fewer professional psychotherapeutic terms in it, and more sincerity and examples. However, sometimes the writer delves into the origins of a particular problem, at such moments the reader may become bored. But only until the next exercise.
Liz Burbo "Listen to Your Body"
Canadian researcher Liz Burbo is one of the most famous figures in the world of psychosomatics. She is sure that any disease is a consequence of a violation of harmony within the person himself. The book helps to understand and detect possible causes of a delicate balance.
It is written very easily and simply. To people sophisticated in psychology and literature on self-knowledge, who mastered Castaneda and Freud, Burbo's manner may seem childishly naive, but this is exactly what makes the book understandable for everyone, without exception.
There are also disadvantages. I must say that the researcher has no medical education, so her reasoning about diseases is not always correct and logical... According to experts, it provides a lot of general information about positive thinking, but does not specify much.
However, many argue that her books have become desktops for them, since they make it easier to relive the most difficult events in life.
Vladimir Levy "Health Errors", "Unusual Child"
The author of the books is the Soviet psychotherapist Vladimir Levy, who could write simply about the complex. These books, like his other works, belong to the category of popular psychology, they will be of interest to a wide range of readers. Diseases are mistakes, the author believes, which can and should be corrected.
They are written easily and naturally, read in one breath, leave an excellent understanding of the essence of the issue and the desire to change yourself, your mood, your views, attitude right now. Specific advice, exercises, techniques are given.
But the books are not designed for the savvy reader who is familiar with the more serious and profound professional literature on psychology and psychotherapy.
Valery Sinelnikov "Love your disease"
Psychotherapist Valery Sinelnikov suggested not to fight ailments, but to thank them, since every disease is a hint from the subconscious... Acceptance and awareness of the problem that caused the disease, according to the author, is the key to successfully getting rid of them.
Very interesting and easy to read... The book is compiled in the form of a dialogue with the reader, replete with examples from the doctor's medical practice, which illustrate his thoughts and beliefs. There are exercises and trainings, as well as a method of communicating with your own subconscious, which makes it easier to self-diagnose problems without the help of a psychotherapist in reality.
The disadvantage is that there is no alphabetical listing of diseases. To find a specific one, you have to read an entire section. The doctor quite accurately indicates the causes of illnesses and troubles, but, unfortunately, he pays little attention to explaining why everything happened this way, why this particular illness began.
In general, the book is excellent, like all those written by Sinelnikov.
Louise Hay "Heal Your Body"
The author tried to give answers to two important questions: why it hurts and how to cure it. The book is presented in a simple and understandable language; it does not contain complex terms that are incomprehensible to many.
It is easy to read, fascinating, there are many useful tips. For each problem, its own solution is offered, positive attitudes are given - affirmationsthat you can use every day and change your mind, thereby solving the main problem.
The downside is that tables of the causes of diseases are compiled without taking into account individual characteristics and circumstances. Few can be satisfied with such an explanation of the disease as "hidden fear" or "suppressed shame." I would like more specifics.
But Louise Hay is loved not only for her diagnosis, but to a greater extent even for her positive psychotherapy.
For psychologists and trained readers
For those who are well acquainted with psychology or are fond of self-knowledge, you can advise to read the books of Gregory and Irina Semchuk, for example, "Psychoanalysis of diseases or Nepsychosomatics in practical application."
Learning to manage thoughts and emotions, better understanding the subtle mechanisms and principles of interaction between the soul and body will help famous authors in psychosomatics: Franz Alexander ("Psychosomatic medicine: principles and practical application"), German neurologist and psychiatrist Nossrat Pezeshkian ("Psychosomatics and positive psychotherapy").
You can also recommend for reading a book about practical psychology and the psychosomatic nature of a psychologist's illness, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Irina Germanovna Malkina-Pykh ("Psychosomatics", "Techniques of positive therapy and NLP", "Diseases of the skin. Free and forget. Forever", "Diabetes. Forever" and others). The list can be continued, since many fascinating and practical works have been written in this area.
