The Instinct to Heal: Curing Depression, Anxiety and Stress Without Drugs and Without Talk Therapy

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1. 

   Ruth Edlund July 19, 2010 at 10:50 pm

   Review by Ruth Edlund for The Instinct to Heal: Curing Depression, Anxiety and Stress Without Drugs and Without Talk Therapy
   Rating:
   This paperback appears to contain exactly the same text as the hardbound version of the same book with a very different cover color scheme. (I thought the paperback version might be updated, but it appears not to be.)

   The recommendations in this book really intrigued me, although some of them (e.g, EMDR) are likely to be controversial. I did some research on the author and he checks out. His credentials are real. I did some research also into his sources by checking with a physician who has a holistic bent. They check out too. He is drawing on known authorities in the areas of, for example, neurophysiology, and his research is drawn from peer-reviewed journals.

   This book does not offer miracle cures but a series of remedies that seem likely to bring improvement in anyone’s state of mind:

   (1) “cardiac coherence,” a sort of relaxation technique (oversimplified description)
   
   (2) acupuncture
   
   (3) EMDR
   
   (4) exercise
   
   (5) fish oil
   
   (6) meditation and
   
   (7) fostering social connections.

   “Curing,” however, used in the title, is a less skillful choice than the initial use of the word “heal.” Anxiety, depression, and stress are chronic, or at least recurrent, states of the modern mind that are more to be acknowledged and managed than totally made to go away (not all stress, for example, is caused by bad things).

   I was already using four of these remedies before I read the book. I learned cardiac coherence easily, I’m about to give acupuncture a try now, based on this book…but I’m still on the fence about EMDR.

2. 

   Michael G. Young July 19, 2010 at 10:52 pm

   Review by Michael G. Young for The Instinct to Heal: Curing Depression, Anxiety and Stress Without Drugs and Without Talk Therapy
   Rating:
   Dr. Servan-Schreiber has broke new ground in summarizing practical therapeutics for the treatment of the emotional brain. As a health care provider who has had to heal my own brain after two significant head injuries and related traumas I can testify to several of the therapies he recommends, and am interested in trying some of the ones I had not heard as much about. As an acupuncturist the other thing I would add is that these protocols are not just for treating anxiety and depression, but they have relevance for every other chronic disease that is prominent today, the interplay between the emotional brain and all of the things we don’t want to get is enormous.

3. 

   Lisaannevictoria July 19, 2010 at 11:13 pm

   Review by Lisaannevictoria for The Instinct to Heal: Curing Depression, Anxiety and Stress Without Drugs and Without Talk Therapy
   Rating:
   Reading this book, reiterated a regimen I once used to follow. Taking fish oil, (as one of the procedures). Could not believe how effective it was. Here I am on one of the worst days of my menstrual cycle (usually) day 27, smiling, relaxed, and totally happy, without a care in the world. So unusual is that for me. This book has a few other solutions such as excercise and acupuncture, and one of them is bound to work for you as well. Thanks David Servan-Schreiber, for writing this book!

4. 

   Fang Jin July 19, 2010 at 11:31 pm

   Review by Fang Jin for The Instinct to Heal: Curing Depression, Anxiety and Stress Without Drugs and Without Talk Therapy
   Rating:
   I had IBS and bad sleep for almost two years, and never figured out a way to deal with them, not even had a clue how to control them a bit. Until one day I figured that I might be a person with depression, anxiety (I never believe that I had them before) and stress (of course everyone got this), I bought this book and start to read it.
   
   It’s well written but it also sounds a fiction movie to me. But anyway I tried the breath method, the first method mentioned in the book. And it worked amazingly well and it simply cools me down and help me relax. I guess I am just kinda of person that get excited easily regardless of happy or bad things I am dealing with.
   
   In a word, I guess this breathing is the instinct or natual way people should do couple of times everyday, but more and more people seems lost it somehow these days.

5. 

   C. Reed July 20, 2010 at 12:17 am

   Review by C. Reed for The Instinct to Heal: Curing Depression, Anxiety and Stress Without Drugs and Without Talk Therapy
   Rating:
   So gratifying to read that science backs up much of what some of us have been doing for many years. Easy read for a sometimes complex subject.