What do Howard Stern, Larry David, John Stossel, Senator Tom Harkin, and Pro-Golfer Ben Crane have in common? They all suffered from debilitating pain until they met Dr. John Sarno.
“We’re in the stone ages, and Dr. Sarno is from another planet. He’s way ahead of his time. It is mind-blowing what he’s uncovered.” – Howard Stern
Filmmakers Suki Hawley, David Beilinson and Michael Galinsky (RUMUR Inc) are currently in post-production on their latest feature, All the Rage. Ten years in the making, this documentary began as a profile of Dr. John E. Sarno, a back pain and rehabilitation specialist who has pioneered a successful mind body approach to treating chronic pain. Called the “best doctor you’ve never heard of” by Forbes magazine, Dr. Sarno has cured thousands of patients, and sold hundreds of thousands of books, based on the philosophy that knowledge can be the cure. Over the course of shooting, we’ve talked with dozens of notable patients and specialists, and we’ve expanded the focus to an exploration of the connection between our emotions and our health.
Pain is a BIG Problem. Chronic Pain is crippling America. In 2012, the cost of treating chronic pain skyrocketed past $600 billion dollars a year. This number dwarfs the costs of cancer, heart disease and diabetes combined. Chances are that you or someone you know is currently experiencing some form of chronic pain.
“[After talking to Dr. Sarno,] all of a sudden the pain was gone, it was the closest thing I’ve ever had in my life to a religious experience, and I wept.”– Larry David, creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm & Seinfeld
Background
In early 2000’s, Co-director Michael Galinsky reached out to Dr. Sarno after being told he needed surgery for his back pain. In the mid-80’s, Michael’s father, a psychologist, had read Dr. Sarno’s book Healing Back Pain and overcame years of pain he had attributed to whiplash. A couple of years later, his twin brother was told he needed collar bone surgery to ease pain in his hands. Their father insisted that he go see Dr. Sarno. Within weeks, Michael’s brother was 90% better. Michael then read the book and banished his own intermittent back pain for a decade. But when the pain inexplicably returned, he went to see Dr. Sarno, who helped him through it. We asked to make a film about his work and Dr. Sarno quickly agreed
We shot some footage, but the film got stuck in a holding pattern as we tried to figure out how to tell Dr. Sarno’s story. Then, three years ago, when the pressures of raising two kids, producing a movie, and fixing up a house came crashing down, Michael ended up stuck on his office floor for two solid weeks, unable to even sit up. It quickly became clear that we had to make this movie.
“I read twenty pages [of Dr.Sarno’s book] and my pain almost cut down by 75%”– Jonathan Ames, creator of HBO’s Bored to Death.
Once Michael’s condition improved, he began once again to shoot with Dr. Sarno. In addition, he visited other doctors and healers like Dr. Andrew Weil, Arlene Feinblatt, Ph.D., Dr. Andrea Leonard-Segal, Ashok Gupta, Dr. Dennis Turk, Tom Chi, Ram Dass, and dozens of other mind body medicine and pain experts, as well as patients. Through interviews connecting Dr. Sarno’s work with that of doctors at the forefront of mind body medicine – gastroenterologist Dr. David Clarke, physician Dr. Gabor Mate, and many noted psychologists – All the Rage will help illuminate the powerful impact emotions have on our health.
This film has been a decade-long labor of love, and a search for healing and understanding. We’ve connected with thousands of people along the way, and we’ve seen the data that makes it clear that chronic pain is the biggest health crisis we’re facing.
Who is Dr. Sarno? While practicing at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation at NYU medical center, Dr. John Sarno came to understand the problem and predicted the epidemic of chronic pain beginning in the 1970’s. When Dr. Sarno compared his patients’ charts, he found that more than 80% of them had a history of at least two other psychosomatic illnesses like ulcers, migraines, eczema, or colitis. He postulated that the stresses of life might be causing the pain. When he talked to his patients further, he found that most of them were perfectionists who put themselves under unreasonable amounts of unconscious pressure to be perfect and good.
Successful Treatment. When Dr. Sarno suggested his patients make the connection between their emotions – including their tendency to put themselves under extreme pressure – and their pain, they rapidly improved. Over the course of his 50+ years in practice, he developed and adapted his treatment program in four bestselling books. He came to see that the unconscious mind was activating the autonomic nervous system, and that the repression of unconscious rage was a major contributor to pain.
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