When the Body Says No - by Gabor Maté (Paperback)

About the Book

"When the Body Says No" provides fresh information regarding important issues concerning the effects of stress on health. Dr. Mate summarizes the latest scientific findings about the role that stress and individual emotional makeup play in an array of diseases.

Book Synopsis

An international bestseller translated into fifteen languages, When the Body Says No promotes learning and healing, providing transformative insights into how disease can be the body's way of saying no to what the mind cannot or will not acknowledge. With great compassion and erudition, Dr Gabor Matéeacute; demystifies medical science and, as he did in Scattered Minds, invites us all to be our own health advocates.

Through the lens of moving personal stories, medical doctor and best-selling author Dr. Gabor Maté shows how emotion and psychological stress play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness, cancer, and many other serious illnesses.

Drawing on scientific research and the author's decades of experience as a practicing physician, this book provides answers to important questions about the effect of the mind-body link on illness and health and the role that chronic stress and one's individual emotional makeup play in an array of common diseases.

• Explore the role of the mind-body link in conditions and diseases such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, IBS, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune conditions, and more


• The book draws on years of medical research and the author's own clinical experience as a family physician


• Complete with The Seven A's of Healing - Once you're ready to acknowledge underlying stress, Dr. Mate guides you forward with principles of healing, management, and the prevention of illness from hidden stress


• Discover dozens of enlightening case studies and personal stories, including familiar names such as Lou Gehrig (ALS), Betty Ford (breast cancer), Ronald Reagan (Alzheimer's), Gilda Radner (ovarian cancer), and Lance Armstrong (testicular cancer)


• An impressive contribution to research on the physiological connection between life's chronic stress cycles, anxiety, and emotions and the body systems governing nerves, immune apparatus, and hormones

"This is a most important book, both for patient and physician. It could save your life." - Peter Levine, PhD, best selling author of In an Unspoken Voice

"Gabor Maté, M.D., skillfully blends recent advances in biomedicine with the personal stories of his patients to provide empowering insights into how deeply developmental experiences shape our health, behavior, attitudes, and relationships. A must read." ― Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., author of The Biology of Belief

From the Back Cover

Gabor Maté, M.D., skillfully blends recent advances in biomedicine with the personal stories of his patients to provide empowering insights into how deeply developmental experiences shape our health, behavior, attitudes, and relationships. A must read.
--Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., author of The Biology of Belief

The interviewees' stories are often touching and haunting. . . . Maté carefully explains the biological mechanisms that are activated when stress and trauma exert a powerful influence on the body. . . . Readers will be grateful for the final chapter . . . in which Maté presents an open formula for healing and the prevention of illness from hidden stress.
--Quill & Quire

In this important book, Dr. Gabor Maté combines a passionate examination of his patients' life histories with lucid explanations of the science behind mind-body unity.
--Richard Earle, Ph.D.

When the Body Says No provides transformative insights into how disease can be the body's way of saying no to what the mind cannot or will not acknowledge--and how we can heal.

Review Quotes

An international bestseller translated into fifteen languages, When the Body Says No promotes learning and healing, providing transformative insights into how disease can be the body's way of saying no to what the mind cannot or will not acknowledge. With great compassion and erudition, Dr Gabor Matéeacute; demystifies medical science and, as he did in Scattered Minds, invites us all to be our own health advocates.

"This is a most important book, both for patient and physician. It could save your life."
-Peter Levine, PhD, best selling author of In an Unspoken Voice

"The interviewees' stories are often touching and haunting. . . . Mate carefully explains the biological mechanisms that are activated when stress and trauma exert a powerful influence on the body, and he backs up his claims with compelling evidence from the field. . . . Both the lay and specialist reader will be grateful for the final chapter, 'The Seven A's of Healing, ' in which Mate presents an open formula for healing and the prevention of illness from hidden stress."
―Quill & Quire

"In this important book, Dr. Gabor Maté combines a passionate examination of his patients' life histories with lucid explanations of the science behind mind-body unity."
―Richard Earle, Ph.D.

"Once thought to be in the domain of genes, our health and behavior have recently been revealed to be controlled by our perception of the environment and our beliefs. Gabor Mate, M.D., skillfully blends recent advances in biomedicine with the personal insights of his patients to provide empowering insight into how deeply developmental experiences shape our health, behavior, attitudes, and relationships. A must-read for health professionals and lay readers seeking awareness of how the mind controls health."
―Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., Cellular Biologist
"Medical science searches high and low for the causes of cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a host of other conditions. Yet it often ignores one of the most pervasive factors leading to illness: the hidden stresses embedded in our daily lives. In this important book, Dr. Gabor Mate combines a passionate examination of his patients' life histories with lucid explanations of the science behind mind-body unity. He makes a compelling argument for the importance of understanding stress both in the causation of disease and in the restoration of health."
―Richard Earle, Ph.D., Director of the Canadian Institute of Stress/ Hans Selye Foundation

Other Titles From Dr Gabor Maté

Praise For Scattered: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder
"One of the most comprehensive and accessible books about Attention Deficit Disorder."
―Publishers Weekly

"Utterly sensible and deeply moving."
―The Vancouver Sun

"This delightful, helpful book is a welcome addition to the literature on ADD. I would enthusiastically recommend Scattered to anyone touched by ADD--adults, parents, and professionals."

--John J. Ratey, M.D., co-author of Driven to Distraction

About the Author

A renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development. Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them.

His books include In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction; Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder; and Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers with Dr. Gordon Neufeld.