Mind/Body Health: The Effects of Attitudes, Emotions and Relationships (2nd Edition)

Detailing the latest scientific findings regarding the relationship between the mind and body, this text discusses how attitudes and emotions directly affect physical health and well-being.

Written by an interdisciplinary team of authors, including two professional health educators who have been deeply involved in Mind/Body research and an MD/Internist who specializes in Mind/Body practices, this text details current global findings on the relationship between the mind and body. The authors show that negative emotions such as anger, depression, and anxiety can adversely affect physical health while positive emotions such as humor and optimism can serve to improve health and increase longevity. Relationships between physical health and spirituality, attitude, medicine, and various social factors are explored. The authors stress the importance of health choices and lifestyle factors on overall health and well-being, while laying groundwork for continued research in Mind/Body medicine in the 21st century.

Dr. Karren has taught and published in the Health Sciences for over three decades. He earned his PhD in Health Sciences at Oregon State University in 1975. He currently teaches at BYU in the Department of Health Sciences. His areas of expertise include Prehospital Emergency Care, Health Behavior Change, and Psychoneuroimmunology. He has served as an author or a co-author on Mind/Body Health, First Aid for Colleges and Universities, and First Responder, A Skills Approach.

N. Lee Smith, MD, is Director of Stress Medicine at Lifetree Clinical Research and Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Smith received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco. Following his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Utah Medical Center and board certification in Internal Medicine, he developed a subspecialty in Behavioral Medicine. He previously practiced primary care medicine in Washington, DC, and in Korea.

Dr. Smith’s areas of interest include pain problems (headache, fibromyalgia, myofascial, back, joint, and pelvic pain); fatigue; sleep problems; irritable bowel syndrome and similar gastrointestinal disorders; preventive cardiology; depression and anxiety; unexplained physical problems (chest pain, trouble breathing, palpitations, dizziness); and nonpharmacological and medical approaches to these problems. He has chaired national education programs and curriculum committees on the effects of depression and stress on medical illness.

Kathryn J. Frandsen has thirty-four years of professional experience in corporate and internal communications, public relations, marketing communications, media relations, and publications management. She currently serves as managing editor and a member of the board of directors of Covenant Communications, Inc., a Utah-based publishing company. Prior to her current position, she was press secretary for a U.S. Congressman; vice-president of a Salt Lake City publishing company; manager of internal communications for software manufacturer Novell, Inc.; director of public relations for a private college in Salt Lake City; and held communications management positions at a variety of national and international corporations.