Dr. John Sarno suggests back pain is psychological - thousands agree

In a 2018 article for Vox, Julia Belluz explores the legacy of Dr. John Sarno, who argued that back pain was actually the result of a psychosomatic process and emotional factors.

Dr. John Sarno was beloved by his patients but derided by his medical peers for his theories, which were largely based on direct patient treatments. He admitted that he never tested his ideas with controlled studies, saying he’d rather spend his time healing patients at his New York University practice than doing research.

At first glance, he seemed like an outdated Freudian. But after digging a little deeper, Belluz learned that some of Sarno’s theories are now being validated by science.