The Great Pain Deception: Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse

"I recommend this book." John E. Sarno, MD

"There is great wisdom and clarity here. I highly recommend this book and its message." Christiane Northrup, MD

"Steve has done an excellent job exploring the realm of mindbody medicine, making this an excellent resource for those who are still looking for answers." Marc Sopher, MD

Recipient of 2 awards in the 2012 International Book Award contest. The Great Pain Deception was awarded Runner-Up Finalist in "Best New Health Book" of 2012 and also honored as Finalist in "Health: Alternative Medicine."

Back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, hand and foot pain, rarely come from herniated discs and joint failures. Pain, such as fibromyalgia, is a deception of the mind created by the brain to keep dark, threatening, and sad emotions from entering consciousness. The vast majority of pains and symptoms emanate from a mindbody process stemming from a personality of perfectionism. However, pain is not "in the mind" of the sufferer--and is often misrepresented as such by people who reject a mindbody process for reasons of ego and monetary gain.

Symptoms inside and outside of the body are primarily the result of emotional conflict hidden within the body and outside of awareness. We live in a world of medical marvels. However, those marvels have become a double-edged sword, often creating more problems than they resolve. John Sarno, MD, at the NYU School of Medicine discovered in the 1970s that back pain was not coming from the things seen on the imaging, such as herniated discs, arthritis, stenosis, scoliosis, etc. Pain was coming from oxygen reduction through the autonomic nervous system due to elevated tension levels, but had been errantly linked to the "normal abnormalities" seen on MRIs and X-rays.

Most physicians refused to believe his findings even though his success rate in healing the most troublesome of pain-cases was well above theirs. Dr. Sarno labeled the disorder TMS, or...