A fascinating and almost mind-blowing premise...

Dr Sarno argues that the vast majority of back pain is actually Tension Myositis Syndrome, in which the brain produces pain (not necessarily in the back--not even necessarily in the musculoskeletal system) in order to distract from repressed emotional pain. When you intentionally focus on the emotions, in many cases (if this is the case), the pain goes away.

He backs this up first of all by citing the incidental findings in spinal imaging that do not correspond to symptoms, or that are found in asymptomatic patients, as well as with his own vast clinical experience. It's certainly the case that back pain is notoriously resistant to treatment, and this would certainly explain why...

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