This may be the most important book you read for many years-even though it was originally published in 2003, before the current economic woes plunged many of us into anxiety about our ability to cope in an increasingly unpredictable world. And although we're a few days out of "Stress Awareness Month" (April) for this year, the message the author conveys to us in the book's pages remains timely, if not critical.

Now more than ever we need to be reminded to attend to what our bodies are telling us as we respond to the stresses-including self-imposed stresses-inherent in our daily lives. Unfortunately, our personal, social, and cultural conditioning is such that this attentiveness can be very difficult for us to give. For many, even an unexpected and apparently untimely brush with serious illness fails to activate the optimal responses our bodies crave for healing and the commitment we need to foster in taking the steps necessary to regain wholeness.

Whether or not you still harbour any doubts about the relationship between chronic stress and serious illness, the wisdom imparted in the pages of this engaging and compelling study will enable you to step back and take a more compassionate and objective look at your own life and the lives of those close to you. Illness, or dis-ease, is examined as being not only a whole-person (BodyMindSpirit) phenomenon, but also as a process deeply rooted in our intergenerational and psychosocial dimensions. Our bodies are exquisitely sensitive instruments, tuned to experiences and emotions we may not even be aware of. Biochemically (including hormonally), immunologically, at the deepest cellular level, they are constantly responding and adjusting to the stuff of our lives. But their "hidden reserves of adaptability" are not infinite: even as we struggle to "manage" our stress, these reservoirs become depleted. And this is when illness strikes.

The author shares with us his patients' stories and the insights he's gleaned from them. He shows and reflects on how our "emotional competence, the capacity that enables us to stand in a responsible, non-victimized, and non-self-harming relationship with our environment" is a strong determinant of our susceptibility to disease and our capacity to heal. The book's 19 chapters are organized around common chronic illnesses, including cancer. The "biologies" of relationships, loss, and of belief are considered. In the last chapter, "The Seven A's of Healing", the author summarizes in a sensitive and constructive manner the sort of personal growth and transformation goals we need look towards in order to give our bodies the support they demand.

Gabor Maté is a Vancouver physician and bestselling author. His IN THE REALM OF HUNGRY GHOSTS: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH ADDICTION (2008) won the Hubert Evans Prize for Non-fiction at last month's 25th Annual BC Book Prize awards.

This book is fantastic. Gabor Mate is brilliant! I had several 'A-ha' moments while reading this book. I highly recommend it. I will be giving a copy to all of my friends and family for Christmas. Everyone deserves to gain the knowledge that he has to share. His approach to medicine and how mind and body are linked would transform the world if everyone understood it.