Healing Heart

by Norman Cousins

Discusses the massive heart attack Cousins suffered in 1980, the events leading up to the attack, the importance of coping with panic, the treatment process, his intensive rehabilitation program, and his recovery

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Medical, Psychology

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1983

Reviews

[Helynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norman Cousins’s cheerful, upbeat, first-person account of surviving and recovering masterfully from a serious heart attack contains many of the same themes the author talked about in his watershed book The Anatomy of an Illness as Seen by the Patient (1979), regarding the healing power of humor, which he experienced first-hand while recovering from a serious illness. The audiobook I listened to The Healing Heart: A Heart Attack Survivor Tells How to Overcome Panic and Mobilize the Body's Magnificent Healing Power" (1983) is actually a little different from the one listed above. In this account, Cousins emphasizes, as always, that the benefits of humor and laughter are literal, but that laughter is also a metaphor for other soothing and healthy practices that help the mind heal the body—faith, hope, spirituality, friendship, music, poetry, drawing, dance, chess, etc., Cousins suffered a heart attack in December 1980, and was taken to the UCLA Hospital. (He passed away in 1990, but it’s great to see how his attitude and the whole mind-body connection bought him that extra decade). He took an aggressive role in his own treatment and recovery, refusing a recommended angiogram and bypass surgery. In fact, he only reluctantly agreed to take a treadmill test, claiming the results are not always accurate or reliable; and, once on the treadmill, Cousins himself called all the shots. His point was that many treatment options that doctors automatically recommend can turn out to be unnecessary. (He never did get the angiogram, and tests later confirmed that is heart—as human hearts have been known to do—actually formed its own bypass). “Be aware of the body’s natural drive to heal itself.” This is not to say that Cousins did not take his heart disease seriously. He describes a faithful regimen of exercise (mostly a walking regimen that became light jogging) and low-fat, low-meat diet that he followed faithfully with the help of his wife. (Her creation of a cabbage salad that includes a tasty assortment of vegetables sounded especially good). His recurring theme is the importance of keeping a patient free of panic, fear and apprehension which lead to depression, which intensifies illness. He related the story of another heart attack victim receiving emergency care from professionals, who were working on his body, but ignoring him. “The body produces its own poisons under apprehension and emotional strain.” As soon as Cousins began to talk to the man, tell him he was in good hands, that he would be fine, etc., the patient’s panic subsided. ““Serious illness should be regarded as a challenge and not as a sentence of doom . . . . Death becomes tragic only when we have already become dead inside,” Cousins says. Again, here are his for healing are:
1. Conquest of panic; important part of any recover program; laughter and the will to live.
2. Trusting the body’s drive to recuperate
3. Sharing of responsibility with one’s physician.
4. Knowing when medical intervention is necessary, and how emotional nourishment is essential.
5. If bypass surgery seems needed, get a second opinion; heart can make its own bypass.
6. Enhance medical intervention; help patient overcome feelings of helplessness.

His last chapters are an eloquent essay about the responsibility of the doctor to have a kinder, more caring bedside manner; that is, to pay as much attention to the emotional needs of the patient as he/she does to the physical. The last two sections of the book are testimonials from Cousins’s personal physicians about the effectiveness of his attitude and self-imposed regimen, and their agreement about the unique contributions patients can and should make in their own treatment, care, and recovery. In short, Cousins and his doctors concur on the importance of a working partnership between doctor and patient.

[Bradley Wilde · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first books I read in the early 80's that impressed on me the mind-body connection. It is still a great read.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for coping skills

[Kimball · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how this book was written. The author seemed to really know his stuff too.

[Katherina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Norman Cousins and I recommend all his books and highly recommend his book The Healing Heart ❤ well written, informative and very inspiring 👏

[Becky Kimmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the positive, fun approach to heart disease.