Health, Emotion and The Body

Gillian Bendelow is Reader in Sociology at the University of Sussex.

• Preface. Chapter 1 Beyond Biomedicalization: Integrated Models of Health & Illness.Chapter 2 'Stress': the Key to Mind/Body?.Chapter 3 Medically Unexplained Symptoms and ‘Contested Conditions’.Chapter 4 Medical Responses to Emotional Distress.Chapter 5 Complementary Medicine and Alternative Healing Systems.Chapter 6 Holism or Healthism?.Bibliography

"Bendelow offers an accessible and extremely enjoyable book for anyone intrigued by contemporary ideas surrounding the ill body."Sociology "This comprehensive book critically examines contemporary models of health and illness ... The book reminds us of the need to consider the individual experience of illness while seeing each person in his or her social context ... Of particular note is the straightforward reminder that illness is a social and emotional experience. The author reminds us that is the patient who should be diagnosed, not merely the disease. 5/5"Nursing Standard"A cogent and intelligent account of the implications of mind/body interactions for health."Sociology of Health and Illness"The quality of writing is high. Apart from the many case histories used to illustrate the points being made, Professor Bendelow gives many insightful observations on modern life and the way in which medical practitioners are responding."RoSPA Occupational Safety & Health Journal"In this insightful, timely, and engaging book, Gillian Bendelow takes a fresh look at the relationship between physical and mental illness, and their treatment.  Positing stress as the key to mind-body medicine, Bendelow’s analysis sheds much-needed light on key issues from medically unexplained symptoms to the surveillance implications of mind-body approaches. A must-read for anyone interested in the social dimensions of medicine, Health, Emotion and the Body charts the course to critical new areas of inquiry."Laura Carpenter, Vanderbilt University"Questions about the relationship between bodies, lives and medicine preoccupy all of us from time to time. In this accessible and very important book, Gillian Bendelow takes us through the critical issues underlying what medicine has to offer contemporary health problems. She identifies a paradigm shift, in which dualistic mind-body models and the dehumanizing and bureaucratic health care systems in which these are often embedded, are now widely understood as failing to provide any real understanding of how we live in and experience our bodies. Her arguments should be read by all those with an interest in humane health care (which is most of us, whether practitioners, users or students). The book is an elegant compendium of many different strands of thought, its conclusions a compelling directive for a more integrated approach."Ann Oakley, University of London