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Behavioral Medicine: Theory and Practice
BOOK REVIEWS The last cassette, "Schizophrenias and Borderline States." reviews history. epidemiology, prevalence, prognosis, and treatment. Symptoms. major defenses, classic su btypes, psychological testing, and the role of the family are all considered. All in all, Survey of Psychiatry is a sobering experience. For those readers who are taking board examinations. this study course will certainly be helpful. For others, it should indicate the value of such reviews in keeping abreast of the recent advances in psychiatry. Wilfred Dorfman. M.D. Brooklyn. N. Y.
Behavioral Medicine: Theory and Practice Edited by Ovide F. Pomerleau and John Paul Brady. 307 pp. SI9.95. Baltimore. Wil· Iiams & Wilkins. 1979.
• In Behavioral Medicine: Theorv and Practice Drs. Pomerleau and Brady have edited a tour de force, a splendidly written entree into the methodology and technology of the emerging field that interfaces medicine and behavioral analysis-the field of behavioral medicine. To the editors, behavioral medicine is not only "the clinical use of techniques derived from the experimental analysis of behavior ... for the evaluation, prevention, management, and treatment of physical disease or physiological dysfunction," but also it maintains a research posture by scrutinizing and "contributing to the functional analysis and understanding of behavior associated with medical disorders and problems in health care." Using this definition, the 784
volume is divided into two sections: "Basic Concepts" and "Clinical Applications." Comprising "Basic Concepts" are four chapters on "Behavioral Epidemiology," "Learning and Conditioning," "Biofeedback," and "Self-Management." They present up-to-date research findings and future research directions, theoretical issues and underpinnings, and critical reviews of the current state of the art. Dr. Joseph Brady's chapter on "Learning and Conditioning" sets the theoretical tone for the whole book and underscores the importance of "learning and conditioning procedures ... exerting ... orderly and systematic effects upon the functional characteristics of biochemical, anatomical, and physiological systems...." The remaining eight chapters offer the reader expanded and ingenious approaches to several problematic areas dealing with health. Thus, under the rubric of "Clinical Applications" are chapters headed "Behavior Pediatrics," "Chronic Pain," "Musculoskeletal and Stress-Related Disorders," "Sexual Dysfunction," "Hypertension," "Smoking," "Problem Drinking and Alcoholism," and "Behavioral Medicine and Beyond: The Example ofObesity." They provide the reader with an ample and well-balanced display of clinical principles, therapeutic modalities, current experimental issues, and future research directions. A representative example of the therapeutic richness and scientific vitality permeating the book is provided in Drs. Fordyce and Steger's chapter on chronic pain. The major etiologic theories of pain are cov-
ered; then, going beyond the sensory-receptor response system of nociceptive stimuli and physiologic sensation, Fordyce and Steger point out the importance of pain behaviors, environmental contingencies, and attitudinal cognitions in the manifestation of chronic pain. They provide the methods and rationale for a multi-modal, behaviorally dominated approach to chronic pain treatment and management. This approach employs four basic elements, including recognition that chronic pain rarely can be adequately understood or treated solely within the confines of a biomedical perspective. Kudos to the editors of this volume. Aside from having remarkably few editing errors, it is a highly relevant, superbly written survey of behavioral medicine today with well-integrated chapters, an extensive bibliography at the end ofeach chapter, and an adequate index. I highly recommend this book to any practitioner interested in the behavioral aspects of medicine. Michael F. Heiman, M.D. College Hospital Ceritos, Calif.
Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient By Norman Cousins. 173 pp, S9.95. New York. WW Norton. 1979.
• The theme of the author's unusual approach to illness is that the patient must have the will to livethat this is the force that makes placebos work and mobilizes the body's natural resistances. Osler is quoted as stating that cures of organic diseases were obtained at PSYCHOSOMATICS
Behavioral Medicine: Theory and Practice Edited by Ovide F. Pomerleau and John Paul Brady. 307 pp. SI9.95. Baltimore. Wil· Iiams & Wilkins. 1979.
• In Behavioral Medicine: Theorv and Practice Drs. Pomerleau and Brady have edited a tour de force, a splendidly written entree into the methodology and technology of the emerging field that interfaces medicine and behavioral analysis-the field of behavioral medicine. To the editors, behavioral medicine is not only "the clinical use of techniques derived from the experimental analysis of behavior ... for the evaluation, prevention, management, and treatment of physical disease or physiological dysfunction," but also it maintains a research posture by scrutinizing and "contributing to the functional analysis and understanding of behavior associated with medical disorders and problems in health care." Using this definition, the 784
volume is divided into two sections: "Basic Concepts" and "Clinical Applications." Comprising "Basic Concepts" are four chapters on "Behavioral Epidemiology," "Learning and Conditioning," "Biofeedback," and "Self-Management." They present up-to-date research findings and future research directions, theoretical issues and underpinnings, and critical reviews of the current state of the art. Dr. Joseph Brady's chapter on "Learning and Conditioning" sets the theoretical tone for the whole book and underscores the importance of "learning and conditioning procedures ... exerting ... orderly and systematic effects upon the functional characteristics of biochemical, anatomical, and physiological systems...." The remaining eight chapters offer the reader expanded and ingenious approaches to several problematic areas dealing with health. Thus, under the rubric of "Clinical Applications" are chapters headed "Behavior Pediatrics," "Chronic Pain," "Musculoskeletal and Stress-Related Disorders," "Sexual Dysfunction," "Hypertension," "Smoking," "Problem Drinking and Alcoholism," and "Behavioral Medicine and Beyond: The Example ofObesity." They provide the reader with an ample and well-balanced display of clinical principles, therapeutic modalities, current experimental issues, and future research directions. A representative example of the therapeutic richness and scientific vitality permeating the book is provided in Drs. Fordyce and Steger's chapter on chronic pain. The major etiologic theories of pain are cov-
ered; then, going beyond the sensory-receptor response system of nociceptive stimuli and physiologic sensation, Fordyce and Steger point out the importance of pain behaviors, environmental contingencies, and attitudinal cognitions in the manifestation of chronic pain. They provide the methods and rationale for a multi-modal, behaviorally dominated approach to chronic pain treatment and management. This approach employs four basic elements, including recognition that chronic pain rarely can be adequately understood or treated solely within the confines of a biomedical perspective. Kudos to the editors of this volume. Aside from having remarkably few editing errors, it is a highly relevant, superbly written survey of behavioral medicine today with well-integrated chapters, an extensive bibliography at the end ofeach chapter, and an adequate index. I highly recommend this book to any practitioner interested in the behavioral aspects of medicine. Michael F. Heiman, M.D. College Hospital Ceritos, Calif.
Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient By Norman Cousins. 173 pp, S9.95. New York. WW Norton. 1979.
• The theme of the author's unusual approach to illness is that the patient must have the will to livethat this is the force that makes placebos work and mobilizes the body's natural resistances. Osler is quoted as stating that cures of organic diseases were obtained at PSYCHOSOMATICS