Publisher's Synopsis
James Clark has realized that the conventional wisdom about "normal" is flawed because it fails to account for the negative effects that trauma, stress, and the demands of contemporary life can have on one's physical and mental well-being.
Clark brilliantly dissects the paradox that chronic sickness and general poor health are on the increase in Western nations that take pride in their healthcare systems. In the United States, about 70% of the population now takes at least one prescription medication, and over half take two.Every sixth Canadian has hypertension. Moreover a third of the population in Europe has hypertension. Adolescent mental illness is also on the increase globally. The question therefore becomes, what constitutes a "normal" state of health? Over the course of his four decades in practice, Clark has come to see that the conventional wisdom about what constitutes "normal" is wrong, ignoring the negative effects that trauma, stress, and the demands of contemporary life may have on one's physical and mental well-being. Western medicine, with all its knowledge and technology, frequently fails to treat the full person, failing to account for the ways in which modern civilization strains the body, loads the immune system, and undermines emotional equilibrium.
Now, with his unique viewpoint, Clark contributes to the great untangling of popular beliefs about what makes us sick, draws connections between individual ills and societal decline, and provides a sympathetic roadmap to health and recovery.
