Article May 23, 1988 Issue

Second Thought

Looking again at news and commentary

Seth Rolbein

Boston Magazine

The following excerpts are from an article discussing the work of Dr. Herbert Benson, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, who for the past two decades has explored the relationship between patients' thought and health. He is the author of the best seller The Relaxation Response. This is a bit longer than most "Second Thought" items, but the subject is one in which some readers may be particularly interested.

From Boston Magazine, August 1987, by Seth Rolbein

"Today our culture's bookshelves are crammed with books and magazine articles about how you can cure yourself through the mysterious powers of the mind, how to beat everything ... by thinking the right thoughts. Much of it is dismissed as quackery, and rightly so. But Benson's studies cannot be dismissed so easily.