When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress

The premise: Cancer and auto immune diseases are more likely to develop in individuals with certain personality features— learned patterns of repression of anger and failure to develop genuine autonomy as an adult—because they are more likely to experience stress.

While I am convinced there is much value in exploring the stress disease connection, and there may indeed be something of credit in his particular thesis, the book relies too heavily on small studies and especially anecdotes from his medical practice. And somehow he always seems to find what he’s looking for in patients’ stories. Overall, it became very redundant and never convincing.

Most of this book and its central message was really powerful for me. The link between our emotions and behaviours and our health. Made me consider what emotions we ignore, suppress or sacrifice and the impact that can have on you later in life.

Very interesting book. It has given me a LOT of things to think about.