Love, Fear, and Health

"Love, Fear, and Health is brilliant. Every health care professional concerned with the psychological well-being of his or her patients should read it. More generally, I recommend this well-written and humane book to anyone concerned to understand why some people are happy and healthy, and others are not." -- David Naylor, Professor of Medicine and President Emeritus, University of Toronto "What an excellent book! Fascinating, scientifically sound, clinically innovative, and gracefully written. While relying on attachment theory research for important applications to the health care field, it opens up topics for further research. It reads quickly and effortlessly because of its lucid prose, engaging author self-disclosures, and efficiently presented, highly instructive case examples. I thoroughly enjoyed it - as an attachment researcher, a sometimes patient negotiating today's health care maze, and a fan of good stories about complex real beings." -- Phillip R. Shaver, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis "Popular medical science at its very best, Maunder and Hunter's impressive book defies superlatives: readable, accessible, amusing, and profound. The authors show how the evidence-based science of attachment is the key that unlocks the puzzle of chronic illness and illness-promoting behaviours, and how, through understanding the lure and dangers of the ubiquitous 'weak force' of insecure attachment, both can be ameliorated. Hyperbole aside, this is one of those rare books destined to be essential reading for doctors and health workers, at all levels, worldwide, and for years to come." -- Jeremy Holmes, Visiting Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Exeter

Using attachment theory, Maunder and Hunter provide a practical, clinically focused introduction to the influence of attachment styles on an individual’s risk of disease and the effectiveness of their interactions with health care providers.

Can the way in which we relate to others seriously affect our health? Can understanding those attachments help health care providers treat us better? In Love, Fear, and Health, psychiatrists Robert Maunder and Jonathan Hunter draw on evidence from neuroscience, stress physiology, social psychology, and evolutionary biology to explain how understanding attachment – the ways in which people seek security in their close relationships – can transform patient outcomes.

Using attachment theory, Maunder and Hunter provide a practical, clinically focused introduction to the influence of attachment styles on an individual’s risk of disease and the effectiveness of their interactions with health care providers. Drawing on more than fifty years of combined experience as health care providers, teachers, and researchers, they explain in clear language how health care workers in all disciplines can use this knowledge to meet their patients’ needs better and to improve their health.