This is a brilliant reference book. I have a lot of issues, due to autoimmune conditions, and sometimes it is nice to just be able to research yourself, to see more about what is happening and if there is anything you can do to make life a little easier. This book is a great`t guide, with lots of detail and great information.

The Encyclopedia of Ailments and Diseases is a dictionary of illnesses and the emotional conflicts (thoughts, feelings and traumas) that give rise to them. It is comprehensive and detailed.

This book is an extremely useful reference work for anyone who already has some understanding of metamedicine and the psychosomatic and psychogenic causes of illness. If you are new to this topic, or deeply skeptical about it, it's unlikely to change your mind: the focus is on the individual conditions, not on convincing the reader about the principles. If you think all this is poppycock, this book is definitely not for you :-)

For readers who are looking for a reference work to help them think about the connections between their medical conditions and the mind, and bring repressed emotions to the surface, it's a clearly-written and helpful tool. It might also be a support to those in therapy.

'Metamedicine' is a branch of mind-body theory particularly focused on the "meaning" of individual illnesses and conditions. To the best of my knowledge, many if not most people working in this particular field are French-speaking (French, Belgian, French Canadian) and many of their works have yet to be translated into English. (There are of course exceptions such as the well-know Louise Hays.) The late great Dr John Sarno also worked in the connected field of psychosomatic illness, but Sarno did not generally connect specific conditions with specific meanings in such a rigorous way as Martel. I have read a number of books on the topic and they all generally make the same or similar connections, but I don't know the origin of the theory. Sarno's work is closely linked to the theories of the great 20th century psychiatrists such as Freud et al.

Martel's book is interesting, even if I personally believe that the connections between emotions and illness are not nearly as cut-and-dried or specific as he and others claim. I find Dr Sarno's theories way, way more convincing and useful. (Moreover, Sarno was a medical doctor, and his theories were based on his practical medical experience, unlike Martel.) Still, the two can be used together as a way to explore repressed emotions and psychosomatic conditions.

I give this book just 3 stars because of my own fairly limited interest in the topic, not because of any real fault with the book itself. It does what it sets out to do satisfactorily. It is also well translated and readable.

My thanks to Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.

This should be on the shelf of every home in 2020 and beyond. I suspect a lot of us 'know' when we are ill or with dis-ease...something more is going on. Martel excellently breaks down what is going on in our body when we exhibit certain physical symptoms. Excellent and essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how their body works and responds to stress and complex emotional issues. Can't rate this highly enough.

Whilst I did find a few things that appealed to me or made sense, for the most part I don’t think I was ready for what some might call ‘woo woo‘, for example, baggy eyes indicating you caught someone red-handed? I did however like Martel’s interpretation of menopause and how to view it.

Very informative. Good book to have on hand. Ailments that are covered is well presented along with various treatments. I will definitely be trying a few of the suggestions. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

I am not sure that I believe the explanations of the author for every single disease, but some insights are useful anyway and I can always mix it with "regular medicine".

Non sono sicura di condividere le spiegazioni dell'autore per ogni singola malattia, ma quel che é sicuro per quanto mi riguarda, é che alcuni insight mi sono stati particolarmente utili e posso sempre "mischiarli" con la "medicina regolare".

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!