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  • When the Body Says No

  • The Cost of Hidden Stress
  • Written by: Gabor Maté MD
  • Narrated by: Daniel Maté
  • Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (333 ratings)

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When the Body Says No cover art

When the Body Says No

Written by: Gabor Maté MD
Narrated by: Daniel Maté
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Publisher's Summary

National Best Seller

In this accessible and groundbreaking book - filled with the moving stories of real people medical doctor and best-selling author Gabor Maté shows that emotion and psychological stress play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis and many others, even Alzheimer's disease.

When the Body Says No is an impressive contribution to research on the physiological connection between life's stresses and emotions and the body systems governing nerves, immune apparatus, and hormones. With great compassion and erudition, Gabor Maté demystifies medical science and, as he did in Scattered Minds, invites us all to be our own health advocates.

©2021 Gabor Maté (P)2021 Vintage Canada

What the critics say

“His medical background and lucid writing style make complex biological processes accessible to non-scientific readers.” (The Gazette, Montreal)

“Maté carefully explains the biological mechanisms that are activated when stress and trauma exert a powerful influence on the body, and he backs up his claims with compelling evidence from the field.... Both the lay and specialist reader will be grateful for the final chapter, 'The Seven A’s of Healing', in which Maté presents an open formula for healing and the prevention of illness resulting from hidden stress.” (Quill & Quire)

“[An] enthralling exploration of the relationship between stress and disease.... Maté probes deeply into the life histories and psyches of [his] many patients.... What emerges is nothing short of a revelation.... When the Body Says No has the power to change medical thinking.” (The Edmonton Journal)

What listeners say about When the Body Says No

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a real eye opener into what stress does to you

Just loved this book! Well written and stories from real people lives. Prompts me to take a serious look at the stress in my life and what I can do about it.

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  • AiA
  • 2024-02-26

transformative!

It's been on my reading list for years. I'm glad I finally got around to listening to this evocative book.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Not what I thought it would be

I read this as part of a book club choice. I live with a lot of stress, childhood trauma, PTSD from childhood and was looking for the connection between the body and stress, and how the body says No. The first chapters were good and I was able to identify with many of the points, and I thought "oh good, a book I can relate to". Unfortunately there were some intervening chapters that were so dry and long winded it sounded like someone's university thesis brought to life. Chapter after chapter tying certain kinds of stress to certain kinds of ailments and frankly I don't need that in my head, and thankfully I don't have any of those ailments. I don't need to be wondering if every little ache and pain is related to stress. I skipped to chapter 14 and carried on from there... and chapter 17, The Biology of Belief is the reason I skipped the previous chapters. I have read Dr. Bruce Lipton's book called The Biology of Belief and it is fantastic. I am very aware of self talk, ingrained beliefs and programming and what affect that has on the body. The following chapters to the end are worth listening to and value to be gained. The examples can still be long winded as they are "story like" and word for word recapping of conversations. A book that uses examples with less detail and more information on what I can do to change would have been much more valuable. If I had to buy this again, not sure if I would. I need a "how to" book on identifying, understanding, and changing old programming and beliefs so I can move forward... and this isn't it. :(

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Mind provoking

I like the stories, although some very sad. They touch on points that I never knew existed. Clearly changing one's own narrative. Has to happen.

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It's OK to say no before your body does.

The author brings experience as a doctor and as a researcher together into an insightful work on how our bodies can react when our minds say yes, whether out of guilt, shame, a sense of obligation, or a number of other reasons.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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An Eye Opener

I really enjoyed this book. It explains so much about how disease develops and this was proven through years of research. The narrator was good, I enjoyed his performance.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Superb!

Always a pleasure to read books by this Canadian author. He displays so much compassion and understanding in his writing. This is the third book that I have read from Gabor maté, and I will be reading all the others.

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Eye opening

What a wonderful eye-opening on how stress, traumas can cause so many health issues in your life and how you can heal. Awesome 👏🏽 well done!!!
great author Mr. Gabor Maté

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    4 out of 5 stars

A moving and important book

While this book does repeat it central thesis in relation to several different diseases, the repetition serves like water on a stone to slowly transform how the reader thinks about the relationship between mind and body. Having listened to all the personal stories of different diseases in the book, I came away deeply understanding that the mind and body are one and the same.

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it was very knowledgeable & enjoyed audible !

I get very distracted reading books where as it was much easier to listen to Audiobooks.

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