When The Body Says No: Mind-Body Unity and the Stress-Disease Connection

“Your environment wasn’t supportive, wasn’t loving, did not respond to you … The fundamental thing that happened, and the greatest calamity, is not that there was no love or support. The greater calamity, which is caused by the first calamity is that you lost the connection to your essence. That is much more important than whether your mother or father loved you or not.”

– A.H. Almaas

Gabor Maté, M.D. is a physician and best-selling author. The lecture below was my first introduction to his work, and I continue to admire him. I highly recommend watching it to better understand how stress and diseases correlate and the unity between mind and body.

“Stress is ubiquitous these days — it plays a role in the workplace, the home, and virtually everywhere people interact. It can take a heavy toll unless recognized and managed effectively and insightfully. In theory and practice, Western medicine tends to treat mind and body as separate entities. It is a separation that has always gone against ancient human wisdom. The brain and body systems that process emotions are intimately connected with the hormonal apparatus, the nervous system, and the immune system. Emotional stress, especially the hidden kind that people are not aware of, undermines immunity, disrupts the body’s physiological milieu, and can prepare the ground for disease. Strong evidence suggests that in nearly all chronic conditions, from cancer, ALS, or multiple sclerosis to autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, or Alzheimer’s, hidden stress is a major predisposing factor. In an important sense, disease in an individual can be seen as the “endpoint” of a multigenerational emotional process. If properly understood, these conditions can provide important openings for compassion and self-awareness, which in turn are major tools in recovery and healing.

Dr. Maté’s presentation includes research findings, compelling and poignant anecdotes from his own extensive experience in family practice and palliative care, and illuminating biographies of famous people such as athlete Lance Armstrong, the late comedienne Gilda Radner, or famed baseball legend Lou Gehrig. The presentation is based on When the Body Says No, a bestselling book that has been translated into more than ten languages on five continents.” (from the bio)