Re-reading Gabor Maté's book: When the Body Says No. I did a bit of a google about him today and it seems the response to his writing is very mixed. Which could mean he's really onto something, or could mean he's a nut. I have to say that from where I sit, there's a lot of help and humanity in what he says, but I realise that taken out of context some of what he writes could be used to support the "blame" school of thought on illness.

"Our immune system does not exist in isolation from daily experience....Many of us live, if not alone, then in emotionally inadequate relationships that do not recognise and honour our deepest needs. Isolation and stress affect many who may believe their lives are quite satisfactory." p. 7

"In important areas of their lives, almost none of my parents with serious disease had ever learned to say no." P. 7

"The blurring of psychological boundaries during childhood becomes a significant source of future physiological stress in the adult. Ther eare ongoing negative effects on the body's hormonal and immune systems, since peopel with indistinct personal boundaries live with stress; it is a permanent part of their daily experience to be encroached upon by others. However that is a reality they have learned to exclude from direct awareness." p. 19

"Stress as we define it, is not a matter of subjective feeling. It is a measurable set of objective phsiological events in the body, involving the brain, the hormonal apparatus, the immune system and many other organs. Both animals and people can experience stress with no awareness of its presence." p. 28

He seems to pander to my personal view that we can influence our health but not necessarily control it.

So... what do you think? Do I have boundary issues? The title of the chapter on MS is: "The Little Girl Too Good to Be True".