THE NEW VIEW OF SELF --- HOW GENES AND NEUROTRANSMITTERS SHAPE YOUR MIND, YOUR PERSONALITY, AND YOUR MENTAL HEALTH by Larry J. Siever with William Frucht. Macmillan, 1997

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (pv-vi)

    INTRODUCTION (cover)

      Your brain, with its complex structures and sometimes inscrutable makeup, contains the elements that make each of us who we are. It causes your thoughts, memories, feelings, strengths and weaknesses, desires, hopes, and fears. In short, it causes your personality!

      Your brain guides your actions, directs your moods, and affects the wy you see your life and the world around you. It guides the way you view or envision your SELF. But what happens when this astonishing organ does not function properly?

      Where has science found the causes of psychological disorder? How can the SELF be rediscovered after the brain has suffered a disorder?

      This book answers these and more questions about the causes of a variety of mood andbehavior problems --- from anxiwty and obsessive-compulsive disorders to depression, schizophrenia, and other types of psychological problems --- and suggests treatment options.

      The book details the ways in which science has attempted to define and treat brain disorders through history. It examines the scientific focus on studying the amount of neurotransmitters released such as dopamine and serotonin, and explains why scientists need to shift their attention to examining the ways in which neurotransmitters work in order to gain a clearer understanding of your brain's dysfunctional mechanism.

      The book deals with the debate over whether or not "talk therapies" or "drug therapies" are most effective in resolving mental-health disorders, and affirms that both are needed.

    1) The soul's deathly sleep (p1-26)

    2) Depression as a physical disease (p27-62)

    3) The dramatic cluster (p27-62)

    4) Serotonin and suicide --- the biology of impulsive aggression (p89-126)

    5) Crossing reality at an angle (p127-168)

    6) The prudent atom (p169-194)

    7) Goodness of fit (p195-216)

    8) From the individual to the community (p217-244)

    NOTES (p245-252)

    INDEX (p253-257)

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from book jacket)

Go to self essay #2.1: Focus on Science and Your Self
Go to brainpower index: Interactive Index of Factual Ideas