Psoriasis, Healing from the Inside Out
A review of the web site for the book, Psoriasis, Healing from the Inside Out.
Note: As I have not read Psoriasis, Healing from the Inside Out, these comments pertain only to the web site advertising the book.
Heather Ferris, a therapist of unknown qualifications and a psoriasis sufferer for 30 years, is the author of Psoriasis, Healing from the Inside Out, a book which is Ferris’s “personal story of triumph over the disease psoriasis and an awakening of the notion that we areindeed in charge of our own healing.”
Ferris’s blurb for the book begins “Psoriasis is a disease of the immune system which is triggered by stress or dis-ease in the body, mind and/or spirit.” That seems to cover every source of disease (there’s no hyphen in the word, dangit) possible. I’ve put this review under the “Stress” section since Ferris sells a companion relaxtion/meditation tape, so the focus seems to be on stress as in anxiety, and not “bodily stressors” such as injuries or vitamin deficiencies.
The blurb goes on to give a small “blast” to modern medicine, implying that drugs always cause side effects (not everyone experiences them). She also says that psoriasis treatments “focus on the skin,” which is untrue. Most of them focus on the immune system. They just happen to be applied to the skin, in order to localize the treatment and reduce the possibility of side effects. Systemic drugs are much more dangerous.
One sentence in the blurb I wholeheartedly endorse: “Readers are encouraged to increase their understanding of psoriasis, or any other condition from which they may be suffering, and more particularly get to know how their own system works.” This is vital to being able to make informed decisions regarding your own treatment program.
We’re then treated to some small teasers about what’s inside the book, including some chapter titles, but nothing that gives any impression of what the writing style is like (which I always like to see prior to buying). Judging from the other pages at this site, though, the book is probably full of vague, new-age suggestions such as “be ‘at one’ with your senses,” which I just find annoying.
From the “About Heather” page, we learn that “she explored diet and natural alternatives after experiencing dermatologists, who were interested only in temporarily ridding the skin of psoriasis, minimizing side effects that could have caused severe damage to her health.” This leads me to believe that Ferris is quite extremely bitter, as “experiencing dermatologists” sounds about as fun as “experiencing the Black Plague.” Dermatologists do only try to temporarily rid the skin of the symptoms of the disease, since no cure is known. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that if you did clear after following Ferris’ advice, the plaques would probably return if you stopped. That would also be a “temporary” treatment, certainly not permanent.
April 28, 2002, Update: Ferris’ site appears to be down.
Links
If you really want to order the book, get it cheaper through one of the Discount Retailers.
