“Anatomy of an Illness” – as perceived by the Patient (reflections on Healing and Regeneration)

by Norman Cousins, published by Bantam books

A breakthrough in holistic healing in the West took place due to the efforts of not a doctor, but a patient suffering from a serious ailment. The person in question is Norman Cousins, who wrote this book in 1979, based on his experiences and subsequent recovery from an “incurable” disease.

In his own words, Cousins wrote, “This book is about a serious illness that occurred in 1964. I was reluctant to write about it for many years because I was fearful of creating false hopes in others who were similarly afflicted. Moreover, I knew that a single case has small standing in the annals of medical research, having little more than “anecdotal” or testimonial value. However, references to the illness surfaced from time to time in the general and medical press. People wrote to ask whether it was true that I “laughed” my way out of a crippling disease that doctors believed to be irreversible. In view of those questions, I thought it useful to provide a fuller account than appeared in those early reports.”

The book is a story of an unusual partnership between a physician and a patient and how together they were able to beat back the odds. The doctor’s genius lay in helping the patient use his own powers: laughter, courage, tenacity. The patient’s talent was in mobilizing his body’s own natural healing resources, proving what an effective weapon the mind can be in the war against disease.

In one of the chapters “Pain is not the Enemy” he has recounted about the work of Dr. Paul Brand in CMC Vellore with patients afflicted with leprosy, and his amazing discovery that people who cannot feel pain suffer unimagined consequences, including losing their fingers and toes to rat-bites.