Physician at New York University whose controversial books on the psychological origins of chronic pain sold over a million copies, even while he was largely ignored or maligned by many of his medical peers. Revered by some and dismissed by others as a quack, he maintained that most non-traumatic instances of chronic pain--including back pain, gastrointestinal disorders, headaches and fibromyalgia--are physical manifestations of deep-seated psychological anxieties. His books, including the best-selling "Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection", became popular largely through word of mouth. Thousands of people have claimed to have been cured after reading them.