| Descript |
xxi, 235 pages : color illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliog. |
Includes bibliographical reference and index |
| Contents |
What does the brain know about the outside world -- What does the brain know about the body -- Our inner defence systems -- The sickness response -- Disgust and prejudice in disease defence -- How do you rate your general health -- Feeling sick and other emotions -- Can you affect your perceived health? -- How society affects our health -- Perhaps its not that bad? |
| Summary |
What do wanting to stay in bed, feeling sick, and being afraid of strangers have in common? The answer is that these feelings can reflect a drive which evolved in our ancestors to combat the threat of infection to survival. Listening to the body's message to the brain that you are sick allows you to save energy that can be used for recuperation and recovery. Urges of staying still, noticing pain, feeling sorry for yourself, and focusing inward are thus bodily messages that benefit the immune defense. Similarly, superficial signs of ill health in others, or even the prejudicial idea of a person with a foreign bacterial culture, can cause anxiety and avoidance as part of the defense strategy. Being at a life or death juncture, your brain and your immune system join forces to preserve or regain health. Having a too high or too low sensitivity to inner or outer disease signals is therefore connected to a risk for mental as well as somatic disorders. In this book, Mats Lekander explains the science behind perceived health, using an arsenal of Barbie dolls, visual illusions, personal experiences, placebo, hypochondriacs, and historical anecdotes against a backdrop of the latest neuroscience and psychoneuroimmunology (the science of the brain, behavior, and immunity). He describes when he poisoned himself at work and enjoyed it, and why white blood cells and inflammation are key players when our brains try to guess what is going on in our inner worlds |
| Subject |
Health
|
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Disease
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|
Mind and body
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Psychoneuroimmunology
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Emotions
|
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Psychology
|
| ISBN |
9780198863441 (paperback) |
|
9780191895937 (online) |
|
