It's Not Just in Your Head: Demystifying the Brain-Body Connection in Medical Illness

Mind-body medicine focuses on the relationship between mental and physical health. This is the first book written for lay readers that demystifies medically unexplained symptoms, empowering readers with answers and techniques to promote healing by recognizing the brain's power to influence bodily functions.

Medically unexplained symptoms account for 40 percent of primary care visits in the United States, yet a “biological” cause is discovered only 25 percent of the time, leaving both patients and their providers frustrated.

People who experience medically unexplained symptoms often feel unheard, marginalized, or even dismissed by their medical providers. Physicians strive to help people, yet the difficulty they face trying to determine the causes of symptoms that do not easily fit into neat diagnostic boxes can lead to frustration and helplessness. Diagnosing cases of medically unexplained symptoms can lead to an overuse of an already overburdened health system as patients are referred from one specialist to another in an attempt to find answers to their puzzling constellations of symptoms.

Dr. Susan Trachman, a specialist in psychosomatic medicine and the writer of the immensely popular Psychology Today blog It's Not Just in Your Head, has seen firsthand her patients’ frustration. Her book, It’s Not Just in Your Head, goes in depth and offers answers and workable solutions by teaching readers about different types of symptoms and how to explain them. Divided into major illness groups—including cardiac, gastrointestinal, infectious disease, and autoimmune disorders—this book will empower readers to be their own Sherlock Holmes by giving them the tools they need. Real patient stories, evidence-based research, and valuable takeaways round out this much-needed work.

Susan B. Trachman, MD, an honors graduate of the University of Texas McGovern Medical School, is an award-winning psychiatrist with over thirty years of experience, specializing in the treatment of medically unexplained illnesses. She completed her postgraduate training at the George Washington University, Georgetown University, and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to private practice, she is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University and clinical associate professor of psychiatry at George Washington University, where she teaches medical students, residents, and post-residency fellows. She has been featured on numerous podcasts and is a frequently quoted expert in healthcare media.