Alchemies of the Mind:
Rationality and the Emotions
A comprehensive, wide-ranging book on the emotions in which he considers the full range of theoretical approaches. Drawing on history, literature, philosophy and psychology Elster presents a complete account of the role of the emotions in human behavior.
Combining methodological and theoretical arguments with empirical case-studies and written with Elster's customary verve and economy, this book will have a broad appeal to those in philosophy, psychology, economics, political science, as well as literary studies, history, and sociology.
Alchemies of the Mind... Altered States:
Creativity Under the Influence
This provocative study takes readers on the ultimate creative trip, exploring in depth the heightened states of mind that give rise to art. The book considers how the components of creativity (awareness, energy, loss of self-consciousness) are affected by stimuli to the brain such as meditative rituals, alcohol, and drugs.
The impact of altered states on Samuel Coleridge, William Faulkner, Jackson Pollock, and other creative giants is explored, as is the role drugs play in group creativity, jazz, blues music, experimental theater, film. Also discussed are pop icons such as Little Richard, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia.
Altered States... Art and Fear:
Observations on the Perils (And Rewards) of Artmaking
A book about the way art gets made, the reasons it often does not get made, and about the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way.
This is a book about what it feels like to sit down at your wheel or keyboard, easel or camera, trying to do the work you need to do.
Art and Fear... Beyond Bedlam:
Contemporary Women Psychiatric Survivors Speak Out
More than two dozen contemporary women write about their experiences as inmates at psychiatric institutions: how they were mistreated, how they escaped, how they live now, and what can be done to change the system that abused them.
They survived the abuse, and here in their own words-in letters, personal narratives, and diary excerpts-they describe how they did it. Their voices rise above the clamor of psychiatric jargon, treatment, and therapy.
Beyond Bedlam... Making Us Crazy: DSM:
The Psychiatric Bible
and the Creation of Mental Disorders
Used by doctors and therapists all around the country, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the closest thing America has to a bible of mental illness.
Classifies more than 200 disorders and their symptoms, from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to Generalized Anxiety Disorder and everything in between. Applies the language of mental illness to everyday behavior, transforming ordinary reactions to life into pathology.
Making Us Crazy: DSM: Mapping the Mind
A map of what is known (and speculated) about the mind in a heavily illustrated field guide to the human brain.
The classic problem with books written about the brain is the immense complexity of the subject. This difficulty is overcome in Mapping the Mind by accessible, lucid writing, and staggeringly beautiful illustrations.
Mapping the Mind (softcover) Mapping the Mind (hardcover) Mental Disorders in Older Adults:
Fundamentals of Assessment and Treatment
Provides practitioners with the latest information on the aging process, its effects on mental health, and how older adults can be helped to lead happier lives. Describes normal processes of aging, then details the assessment and treatment of disorders most commonly experienced by older adults.
Includes information on Alzheimer's, depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Examines a variety of therapeutic approaches for each disorder, and discusses frequently prescribed medications. A special section is devoted to working with families.
--Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Mental Disorders in Older Adults Psychopharmacology of Antipsychotics
A wealth of knowledge about the atypical and conventional antipsychotic drugs. The author reviews concepts relating to key neurotransmitters, symptoms, psychopathology. Concise, but not short on references.
Psychopharmacology of Antipsychotics The Body Remembers:
The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment
The relationship between the physiological reactions to serious trauma and helpful methods of treatment are detailed in accessible, clear fashion, complete with understandable diagrams and case examples with extensive and relevant transcriptions. A minimum of technical jargon makes this easy to understand book something that PTSD sufferers to experienced clinicians will need.
Covers the psychophysiology of trauma and trauma treatment, providing new insights on physiology and psychological connections between trauma and memory. Scientific theory and clinical practice each are considered as principles and techniques for understanding stress responses in both daily and long-term trauma situations are presented.
The Body Remembers... The Ecstatic Imagination:
Psychedelic Experiences and the
Psychoanalysis of Self-Actualization
The Ecstatic Imagination provides the first general theory of psychedelic experiences. Merkur refutes several theories that have been used to explain single categories of psychedelic experience, and offers instead a unitary theory that is applicable to all varieties. The book treats self-reports of psychedelic experiences as a wealth of neglected data which forms the basis to expand the psychoanalytic model of human imagination.
An exhaustive phenomenology of the varieties of LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin experiences in Western and Native American cultures is joined together with psychoanalytic theories drawn from the classical, ego psychological, and object relations schools. Where existing theories prove inadequate to the discussion of data, original formulations are offered. The result is a rigorously psychoanalytic approach to the process of self-actualization.
The Ecstatic Imagination The History of Mental Symptoms:
Descriptive Psychopathology Since the Nineteenth Century
Covers with precision, the origins and transformations of the psychiatry, from the nineteenth century to the present.
The History of Mental Symptoms The Myth of Mental Illness:
Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct
This book is nearly 40 years on the market. However Dr Szasz is as relevant today as ever. Institutionalized persecution of different behaviours has evolved beyond the ridiculous to the absurd.
Dr Szasz's characterization of this as a war on personal responsibility is important from a medical and a moral perspective, as a challenge to the popular notions of inner child, the growing victim industry (e.g. gambling and shopping addictions, among many many more).
The Myth of Mental Illness The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People:
What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It
This book is based on real research on happiness and happy people, it's not just a collection of cute sayings. This book is a practical and useful guide.
The 100 Simple Secrets 1,001 Facts Somebody Screwed Up
A lot of facts are just common beliefs which, taken completely literally, aren't correct, which shouldn't be a big surprise.
Much of it is filled with interesting facts. It's a fun book, but not too big.
1,001 Facts Somebody Screwed Up The 176 Stupidest Things Ever Done
Too lazy to drive to his girlfriend's house, a man ties helium balloons to a lawn chair, and ends up at 15,000 feet, closing the L. A. airport.
A Chinese contraception program causes the birth rate to rise when men are discovered taking birth control pills and unrolling condoms over their fingers, exactly as shown in the training film.
A gang of Norwegian thieves carefully uses explosives to open a safe only to find the safe is filled with dynamite.
And 173 more hilarious incidents, senseless stunts, farcical feats, and utterly asinine activities from throughout history, and around the globe.
The 176 Stupidest Things Ever Done The Physics of Consciousness:
Quantum Minds and the Meaning of Life
Consciousness and the mind have long been ignored by science and left to philosophy to ponder, but Walker makes a brilliant break through with what he has to say in this book. By taking the fundamental problems with Quantum theory and approaching them with a fresh and open mind, this book presents some very amazing and exciting possibilities into the real workings of reality.
While heavy in Quantum theory, Walker does a sufficient job of moving the reader through a long and complicated journey, the rewards of which are quite worth the work. I highly recommend this book to anyone searching for answers to life's bigger questions who can no longer believe through faith alone.
--Jason W. Askew
The Physics of Consciousness The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said
This brother and sister team have collected the most idiotic, most embarrassing, and downright asinine quotations in history, in one quirky little volume. Its a side-splitting selection of awkward utterances and memorable mis statements from famous figures in the worlds of politics, sports, diplomacy, literature, and entertainment, past and present.
The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women:
A Portable Mentor
Sparked by her long search for inspiration in her life and work, Gail McMeekin has worked closely with some of today's most highly creative women for her one of a kind guide to maximizing creative energy.
From interviews and conversations, McMeekin distilled the common themes in these innovators' lives and work into practices any woman can use.
The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women They Say You're Crazy:
How the World's Most Powerful
Psychiatrists Decide Who's Normal
Revealing the way accepted psychological guidelines are established, typically by a conservative group of white males, a cautionary manual argues that standard life problems are often misdiagnosed as mental disorders.
They Say You're Crazy