Beyond Pain: Making the Mind-Body Connection

Ian W. Toal is a registered nurse in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Pain is not a simple phenomenon. Although its underlying mechanisms may
be biological, psychological and social factors affect how any pain is
perceived by the person, and whether or not the pain will move out of
the realm of “disease” and into the complex world of “illness.”
In this well-written and entertaining book, Dr. Mailis-Gagnon, a
Toronto-based pain specialist, demonstrates that there are usually no
simple treatments for pain.

The book is aimed at the general reader. The language is simple (but
not simplistic), and complex ideas are clearly explained and illustrated
with case studies. Although Beyond Pain is not a self-help book for
chronic pain sufferers, there are many treatment options discussed
throughout that will at least give people experiencing pain a different
outlook on possible methods to control their pain. The book is well
researched and includes a good index, but there is no list of resources,
which would have been helpful.

Overall, Beyond Pain is an excellent book that will be relevant to us
all, as we are all touched by pain at some time or another.