When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress

In a case study, Dr. Gabor Maté remembers a patient, Mary, who punctured her finger with a needle. Due to a preexisting circulation condition, Raynaud’s syndrome, Mary developed gangrene, and the finger needed to be amputated. However, Mary then developed scleroderma, an autoimmune disorder that stiffens tissues in the body, including the skin, heart, and esophagus.

Dr. Maté interviewed Mary about her life and found that she had repressed the details of a very traumatic childhood and continued to prioritize her husband and children over her own needs. Mary died eight years after her diagnosis. Dr. Maté wonders how different her life may have been if she had been able to express her needs as a child.

Inspired by the case study of Mary, Dr. Maté published an article suggesting that people’s emotional coping style affects their physical health. It was criticized by many physicians, but others agreed that the mindbody connection is important in treating disease. Maté suggests the term “mindbody,” as suggesting a connection between mind and body still establishes the two as separate entities, when in fact they can never exist independently of the other.