Mental Health Books

To begin, one of the most striking elements of this book is the disregard of inappropriate parsimony in developmental psychology, an area of research that has traditionally involved an attempt to "boil down" the pertinent influences that affect human development. Wachs, on the other hand, serves his readers a delectable plate full of relevant research findings that point to a much more sophisticated web of relations between a myriad of variables shown to be related to some component of human development. Although such an approach to explaining human development seems a bit overwhelming at first, in addition to the over seventy pages of references he has reviewed to author this book, Wachs' exhaustive review of single and multiple developmental influences is both informative and thought provoking. Wachs divides the book into chapters that each outline a specific area believed to have an impact on development. For example, in chapter two Wachs discusses the influences of both evolution and ecology. Much of the reviewed research suggests that evolutionary influences, such as our own selection processes, may serve as "blueprints" which can be "actualized" by more immediate influences (p. 27). In addition, Wachs outlines the affects of ecological influences on human development and finds such results as the correlation between children living in cold climates, where parents may tightly wrap them in warm clothing, and the restriction of their motor activity and influences on their personality development. In chapter three he acknowledges the necessary influence of genetic, neural, and hormonal factors through a review of a great amount of relevant research. He explains that although genes code for particular characteristics and functions, they have only an indirect impact on human development, as they are associated with the conditions of external factors, such as the proximal and distal environmental influences summarized in chapters six and seven. In these chapters Wachs reviews the influence of external conditions, namely proximal and distal factors, on human development. Some proximal factors having an indirect impact on human development are caregiver beliefs, parental rearing styles, and environmental chaos, which is a comprised of many environmental conditions, such as high levels of noise, lack of both temporal and physical structure in the home, and unpredictability in the child's environment. In comparison, distal influences are associated with more long-standing factors, such as characteristics of culture, social class, and parental work situation. An important point to address here, a point about which Wachs continually warns the reader, is that although such evolutionary, ecological, proximal, and distal factors are necessary influences on human development, none, in and of themselves, sufficiently explain the individual variability in human development. In other interesting chapters Wachs outlines many more factors related to human development. For example, in chapter four he explains the impact of nutritional supplementation on the development of malnourished children. Perhaps even more impressive than the exhaustive reviews of the multiple influential factors associated with human development is Wachs' systematic approach to explaining how these factors actually related to and affect one another in regard to the developing human. These linkages are depicted in chapter eight, and Wachs uses the term "midlevel processes" to refer to those processes common to the developmental influences outlined in chapters two through seven. For instance, multiple influential factors can be functionally related, which refers to the impact on development by the combination of independent influences. Functional linkages can produce developmental variability in different ways, such as through "additive coaction," influence of summed independent factors, or through "interaction," differential reaction of people with differing attributes to similar factors (p. 186). In addition to functional linkages, Wachs explains the impact of structural linkages, which hold that developmental influences "neither act nor occur in isolation" (p. 191). These types of linkages explain occurrences such as the covariance among the multiple developmental influences, for which it is important to account when studying the relationships between developmental processes. For instance, research has shown that there is covariance between "child oppositional behavior at school, greater peer rejection, less on-task classroom behavior, and poorer learning" (p. 196). Through this example it is evident that the influences vary with one another to produce the developmental outcomes under study and that it is not simply the influence of a single factor that produces a certain developmental outcome. Essentially, Wachs attempts to persuade his readers to endorse this systematic approach when studying the influences of the factors related to human development, requiring the acknowledgement of covariates, summations, differential reactivities, and more. More specifically, in a three-level model Wachs outlines how a person functions within an intricate system throughout the course of their lives, and he denotes several properties of the individual that are similar to properties of general systems. For example, he explains that individuals grow and differentiate over time, much like systems. He adds that people, like systems, have an organized way of functioning that is due to influences of both the external environment and the person's own self-regulating strategies. Although more similarities are illustrated, Wachs incorporates an even more engaging component of the systematic approach to explaining the developmental processes of a human. This component is related to the stabilizing affects of particular influences as dominant themes within a person's life begin to develop. Wachs calls these dominant characteristics in a person's life "stabilized central attractors," which are "densely linked to other multiple elements or influences characterizing an individual and toward which the individual's developmental trajectory converges" (p. 290). Even through this complicated systematic explanation it is clear that many factors are necessarily related to human development, but are not sufficient influences in and of themselves. In summation, in reading this book I found that it is this complexity that is most interesting and gives the systematic approach to understanding the multiple influences on human development an interesting edge in the arena of human development as studied in the field of developmental psychology.

I was amazed by Theodore Wachs' knowledge base and scholarship. He surveys a vast and complex landscape to explain just about everything we know about what makes people turn out the way they do. Psychologists such as myself are often called upon to explain why a person ended up in a particular situation, and Wachs' book helps me to answer this question within the limits of today's scientific knowledge while avoiding the temptation to oversimplify by attributing outcome to one or two obvious causes. Wachs explores influences on development ranging from evolutionary and genetic to environmental (both proximal and distal). Even more difficult, he provides a model for integrating multiple influences on human outcome. An amazing and well thought out treatise!

This book is a gem, designed to offer a neuroscientific perspective on the dynamics of personality. It is both informative, and clinically relevant. Slowley, and quite methodically the authors build an understanding of personality in a bottom up manner, starting with modern evolutionary theory, and the principles of neuroscience and neuropsychology. What emerges is a fascinating, and ecologically valid, perspective on how various memory systems function, and contribute to the emergence of personality. The clinical implications are astounding, and certainly worthy of serious consideration.

That's the disheartening take away message from this text. As organisms, we don't tend to think much about the mechanisms behind our thoughts, motivations, and actions. We implicitly assume that they all derive from "us." We feel as though we are rational entities with free will, who evaluate our environments and choose actions that will make us happy. It's a fluid and convincing process that supports itself, hence the unquestioning belief we have in our autonomy.
But what makes us tick? All those wet parts in our head obviously have something to with it. We've all seen people whose mechanics have failed them, victims of Alzheimer's or stroke or schizophrenia. They're not so volitional or rational. Or what about animals? It's easier to believe that mice or ants are creatues of instinct, that they follow simple rules and don't reflect on themselves. Well, this book is one of many to illustrate that we too are mindless creatures of instinct. This makes sense if you think about it from an engineering standpoint. How could you ever devise a system that had free will? The very idea is at odds with the laws of physics, as it implies some level of operation above nature (i.e. supernatural, nondeterministic). Centuries ago, this was considered proof of the soul, and existance on a deeper plane ("I think, therefore I am."). Our behavior looks too complex to us to be the result of algorithms operating on cumulative experience, but that's exactly what it is. WE are essentially the result of unconscious processes that evaluate our environment and determine the best actions, based on the results of prior associations, to achieve evolutionary ends (procreation, ultimately, and survival, immediately). What we experience as our mind is the result of a part of the brain that claims authorship of actions already initiated at a subconscious level. It's a confabulation engine that makes coherent stories about why we chose to do things, what we intended to do, and what we're planning to do. It's a process that works seemingly backward. In this regard, we come to know ourselves much as others do, by observing ourselves. Given our more intimate relationship with our own brains, however, we have a priveleged perspective (though not in all areas, as the market for psychoanalysts can attest)).
This, to me, was the most fascinating angle of the book. The "dynamics" aspect of the book is an attempt to explain the way the brain creates dynamic behavior by utilizing a collection of attractors, or default states, which interact with each other to determine an ultimate single state. Because the attractors are operating on the edge of stability, mild perterbations in the environment can produce dramatic shifts in the strengths of the various attractors, and affect the eventual output of the system. Much like a weather pattern, this results in broadly predictable trends, but transiently unpredictable behavior. I have a feeling this theoretical framework is based mostly on conjecture, but it seems a productive line of thought.
Overall, a very interesting read which will forever prejudice your understading of yourself, and with many social and legal ramifications that await future argument (people will still argue in favor of free will, I imagine, despite all evidence to the contrary).

I really appreciated the information in this book. It is easy to read, understand and apply. I do not have a daughter but found the information very helpful in understanding my own issues with eating. I have used the information many times over when I feel like eating but don't know why, when I should be full. It has helped to change the way I look at food and what and why I eat what I do. I would recommend it to any parent whether you feel there is a problem with a childs eating habits or not. It has helped to make food a pleasure and a friend not an enemy!

I found this book to be filled with great ideas that helped me to communicate with my daughter about her image concerns, things that she struggles with at school as a teenager regarding relationships, and all kinds of mixed messages she gets through the media. The book is filled with lots of charts that help me to know what to say as a healing response to her fears that let her know I care and understand her feelings.

What a relief it is to have a guide book that helps me to know what to say and how to respond to her concerns, and to understand how important it is to be able to give her a space that she feels free to express herself and to not feel judged as she shares her feelings with me.

Great book!

If you have a serious interest in the type of scientific
research that has been conducted on mental health and
nutrition - than this compilation of research studies
is worth the big bucks.
Might be helpful in working with a physician.
If technical material overwhelmes you than this is not
the book you want...

This book contains a myriad of studies, case reports, theoretical discussions on the effects of nutrition on the major mental disorders. The author clearly points out that the book is not intended for self diagnosis and treatment. However, the ideas are so powerful that many can use some of the ideas for just that purpose. For example, ADHD children don't handle tartrazine (F&D yellow) very well. It chelates out zinc which is needed for many brain metabolic processes, including making omega-3 fatty acids available to the brain, which are also in short supply in ADHD children, in bipolar patients, in depressed patients, and alcoholics. So now we have a logical explanation why many ADHD children react poorly to food colorings and why omega-3 fatty acid supplementation doesn't necessarily help all ADHD children. Here is another one. Excess phosphorus in the diet increases aggressve behavior of ADHD children. This comes from processed meats, cheeses, and colas, among other things. The book is filled with so many mind wrenching surprises that any professional or parent who reads it with an open mind will be unable to continue with business as usual. Too bad the book didn't get published in time for Karen Carpenter. She could have increased her survival chances by simply taking a zinc supplement. After reading this book, I am convinced that the day is coming when we will be looking at today's methods of treating mental disorders and comparing it with discredited practices from a century ago. This book has changed my fundamental views of "mental" disorders which are not "mental" at all, but which are physical "central nervous system disorders."

This is an excellent book. Although focused on children and adults with Learning Disabilities (I prefer the term Learning Differences) it can be a model for life in general. I highly recommend it.

If you are learning disabled, if you know a child who is learning disabled, if you know an adult who is learning disabled, this book will teach you all you need to know to understand the suffering a learning disability creates. At the same time, the book provides tales of inspiration and lots of practical advice. A must read on this subject.

Bring on the largesse and the love with Liz Curtis Higgs book! I was touched to the core of my fat self while reading this book. I love her humor and her sensitivity to what us real women face, especially those of us who are less-than-perfect-model-looking! Amen...halleljuah...and glory be to God for this great book!

I love this woman! She has made me laugh and made me realize that not everybody is meant to be a size 6! Love your body and yourself, life is too short to be caught up in diets and the ongoing battle to be super skinny! Buy this book, you will truly love and enjoy it!

This informative book, with chapters by several different psychologists, is a wonderful balancing of the one-sided "positive psychology" movement. One size does not fit all of us !! And this book respects and understands our individual differences. I particularly appreciate the chapter by Julie Norem, Ph.D., which previews her insightful new book, The Positive Power of Negative Thinking, about the psychology of Defensive Pessimism.

If you are like me and feel that optimism and pessmism can be both good and bad, you must check out this book! The chapters are interesting, thorough, and cover alot of ground. One or two of the dozen or so chapters can be a bit dense however. Nonetheless, this is by far the most balanced book I've seen written on optimism by some top people like Martin Seligman (who wrote Learned Optimism). It was refreshing to see that the cup can be both half empty and half full at the same time! (The Ying and Yang art cover is absolutely fab if you're into such things.)

I'm a freelance writer based in New York and I write columns for several national publications on diverse topics ranging from education to health.

Taken from Freud's lectures when he made his famous American visit in 1909 to Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts; this book presents the great man's ideas straight forward and with brevity. Dr. Freud distills the basics of his system of personality in understandable fashion. Great primary source for a high school psychology class or a psychology enthusiast who hasn't time to muddle through Freud's deeper works.

This is a delightful little book that succintly explains and describes the origins and development of psychoanalysis. The book is designed for the novice with an interest in learning some basic on the ideas and thoughts of Sigmund Freud.

The book is well written and is easy to follow and understand. The book consists of five lectures delivered by Freud in 1910 which helps you understand the basic ideas about Freudian psychology. Read this book to get a historical background to the genius and early formulation of psychoanalysis theory.

This book is a wonderful addition to anyone's linguistic library. Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek have done it again! I look forward to thier new popular press book about how babies talk.

"THE ORIGINS OF GRAMMAR presents a synthesis of work done by the authors, using ... the intermodal preferential looking paradigm, which can be used to assess lexical and syntactic knowledge in children as young as thirteen months of age. In addition to drawing together their ground-breaking empirical work, the authors use these results to describe a theory of language learning that emphasizes the role of multiple cues and forces in development. They show how infants shift their reliance on different aspects of linguistic input, moving from a bias to attend to prosodic information to a reliance on semantic information, and finally to a reliance on the syntax itself."

This story covers the life of the author's father who suffered from schizophrenia. The book touched me greatly, seeing the family's experience and the treatment that they got from hospital and society. It was an interesting window on the second half of the last century in England.

This was a brutally honest,heartbreaking,sad,funny,inspiring and a book true to the heart.I Strongly recommend anyone to read this book!