The Apparitionist by Peter Manseau
Dark
Nights of the Soul by Thomas Moore
The
Dawn of Innovation by Charles R. Morris
Happiness
is a Choice by Frank Minirth and Paul Meier
The
Healthiest Diet on the Planet by John McDougal
The
Phantom Unmasked by Kevin Patrick
The
Power of Fifty Bits by Bob Nease
I’ve been reading a lot about anxiety and depression lately, and it has led me to some older books, such as Happiness is a Choice by psychiatrists Frank B. Minirth and Paul D. Meier. The book appears to be written for a mixed audience of therapists who may be treating patients with depression and people who may pick up the book as a self-help guide. If depression is affecting your life, I recommend you talk to your physician or reach out for appropriate counseling; there are effective therapies and in some cases drugs may be appropropriate.
The book may be broken into three major parts. The first deals with the symptoms of depression. Though it is fairly widely know now (thanks largely to drug advertising), it was probably less known in 1978 when this book was published, that there are physical symptoms to depression. Feeling bad emotionally can make us feel bad physically and vice-versa.
The second part deals with the causes of depression. These are particularly stress and trauma. We all face trauma in life, and it does not have to be “major” to result in depression. We all grieve losses, get angry over the way we or others are mistreated, face dysfunction in relationships and countless other stresses and traumas. Any of us may suffer a blow that leads to depression.
“Who gets depressed? At some period of life, nearly everyone does!” Frank B. Minirth and Paul D. Meier, Happiness is a Choice
Finally, they deal with the treatment of depression. Much of Minirth and Meier’s advice deals with thinking and relationships. Therapy may occur at a counselor’s office, but healing takes place in everyday life, thoughts and relationships.
The book also contains appendices that deal with things that may be of more interest to therapist. These include a few very brief case studies, a short chapter on the biology of depression and additional information on various types of treatment.
Minirth and Meier are known as Christian counselors who discuss faith alongside medicine. This book is no exception. The authors reference the Bible and draw lessons from it. Though many may find useful advice in this book, I think it would especially appeal to Christian who are seeking help that is consistent with their faith. Their advice on overcoming depression and anxiety is rooted in their religion.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
The Mindful Way through
Depression by
Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindal Segal & Joh Kabat-Zinn
Rewire Your Anxious Brain by
Catherine M. Pittman & Elizabeth M. Karle
The Solution by Lucinda Bassett
Think 4:8 by Tommy Newberry & Lyn Smith
12 “Christian” Beliefs That Can Drive You Crazy by Henry
Cloud & John Townsend
Minirth, Frank B., and Paul D. Meier. Happiness is a Choice: A Manual on the Symptoms, Causes and Cures of Depression. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker House, 1978.
Happiness is something we can produce, at least in part, from the choices we make and the things we do. Psychiatrist Frank Minirth emphasizes the choices that lead to happiness in his book, In Pursuit of Happiness.
Minirth is particularly known for his work in Christian
psychology.
The book is full of references to the Bible, with
scriptures selected to provide advice in several areas of life that have a
strong effect no happiness. I found this to be one of the best parts of the
book.
The author is also a medical
doctor. As such, he also believes that some can benefit from drugs, other
medical treatment and psychological counseling. He emphasizes the power of God,
but he does not minimize the benefits of medicine. The main body of the book
does not deal much with the medical treatment of depression, anxiety or
other treatable disorders that affect happiness other to point to the potential
benefits of medical treatment. However, the book includes several appendices on
the biological
causes and medical treatment (including drugs) of anxiety, depression, dementia
and other diseases.
Most of the book is very easy to read. Each chapter plainly
follows an outline and flows from subject to subject. To a great degree,
readers may skip around to the chapters that are most relevant to them and
still make sense of the book.
If you’re
interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Anxious
for Nothing by Max Lucado
The
Beethoven Factor by Paul
Pearsall
The
Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die by John Izzo
Happiness
is a Choice by Barry Neil
Kaufman
I
Can Make You Happy by Paul
McKenna
The
Instinct to Heal by David
Servan-Schreiber
It's
Not Always Depression by
Hilary Jacobs Hendel
Language
and the Pursuit of Happiness by
Chalmers Brothers
Lost
Connections by Hari Johnson
The
100 Simple Secrets of Happy People by David Niven
100
Ways to Happiness by Timothy
Sharp
Rewire
Your Anxious Brain by
Catherine M. Pittman & Elizabeth M. Karle
Secrets
You Keep from Yourself by
Dan Neuharth
The
Solution by Lucinda Bassett
Think 4:8 by Tommy Newberry & Lyn
Smith
Minirth, Frank. In
Pursuit of Happiness: Choices that Can Change Your Life. Grand
Rapids, MI: Fleming
H. Revell, 2004.
I previously reviewed a couple of books on low-carb diets. Perhaps it is time for a dissenting opinion. Physician John McDowell argues for a low-fat vegan diet in The Healthiest Diet on the Planet.
The crux of the argument is the inversion of that made by
some made by low-carb advocates, especially those who promote nearly
carnivorous paleo diets. McDougall proposes that the primary diet of our
ancient ancestors was plant-based, and that especially included
energy-providing starches; he even refers to his picture of the ideal diet as
“starchitarian.” He points to those parts of the world where people still eat
their traditional diets and have low occurrence of obesity and
associated diseases. They eat a lot of whole grains
or potatoes
along with vegetables and fruit; they eat
little meat. It
makes sense to me that this would be a natural diet for humans. In much of the
world, foods from plants would have been much more widely available most of the
year with much less effort and danger. Meat was probably a great calorie
supplement to an otherwise lean diet, but it would not have been a reliable
source of food for every meal, nor is it amenable to storage or preservation.
Another appealing aspect of the McDougall plan is it simplicity.
In The Healthiest Diet on the Planet,
he offers a green-yellow-red light approach to what to eat, what to eat with
caution and what to avoid. The diet consists mainly of starchy foods: whole
grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes and beans. It also includes vegetables and
some fruit. Some foods, such as nuts, avocadoes
and fruit juices, can be eaten in small amounts; they are a concern because
they include a lot of fat
or sugar.
Finally, avoid animal products (meat, eggs and dairy) and
extracted vegetable oils.
McDougall admits that it is unusual of natural human diets to be completely
devoid of meat, so I suspect it would be okay for someone to eat meat once in a
while.
I haven’t tried it any more than I have tried a low-carb
diet. It certainly seems easier. It is also likely to be less expensive.
Like many diet books, this one includes recipes. Coauthor Mary McDougal
contributed the recipes.
McDougal, John, and Mary McDougal. The Healthiest Diet on the Planet: Why the Foods You Love—Pizza,
Pancakes, Potatoes, Pasta, and More—are the Solution to Preventing Disease and
Looking and Feeling Your Best. New York: HarperOne, 2016.
Will Hunt has been fascinated with underground places since his childhood discovery of an abandoned tunnel in his hometown. Perhaps abandoned isn’t quite right; Hunt found signs of occasional human occupation in the old tunnels. He pursued his interest in underground places and the way people used and experienced them around the world. He describes these experiences, and what these hidden chambers mean, in Underground.
Hunt’s explorations took him into both manmade spaces and natural caves. He retells adventures from the Paris catacombs and a trip across the city that was almost entirely underground. He entered mines and saw shrines miners created for the spirits (or monsters) that live in them, beings that are sometimes generous and sometimes dangerous. Perhaps these are relatives to the spirits, strange creatures and gods reputed to live in natural caves.
Caves and tunnels are important to varying degrees to almost all religions. Shamans, priests and philosophers have long traveled under the earth to seek insight or communication with other worlds. Hunt ties this to the hallucinations and distorted sense of time humans experience when they are deprived of sensory stimulation. He does not denigrate these experiences, but sees them as something universally human. The altered state of consciousness one might enter in the utter darkness of a cave is simply another way the mind works, and possibly the root of all religion.
People did not always understand what was underground, and we are still making discoveries. Even two centuries ago, the world under our feet was a mystery. As a fan of Missouriana, I was attracted to Hunts telling of the life John Cleves Symmes. A St. Louis-based trader and former Army officer, Symmes was a proponent of a hollow earth theory. We were not living in the inner world, but he imagined there were worlds within ours existing on a series of concentric spheres. From 1818 until his death in 1829, he traveled the country lecturing on this theory and raising money to mount an expedition. He never made that trip to inner worlds, but he was an inspiration to the authors of hollow earth stories such as Edgar Allen Poe, H. G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Frank L. Baum.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
A Professor, a President, and a Meteor by Cathryn
J. Prince
The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul
Malmont
The Brooklyn Bridge by Judith
St. George
The Explorer King by Robert Wilson
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise
Kiernan
Road to the Sea by Florence Dorsey
The Water Room by Christopher Fowler
Hunt, Will. Underground: A Human History of the World Beneath Our Feet. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2018.
Depression
and anxiety seem to be the new defining diseases of our age, especially in the West. These disorders, and even severe stress, can affect our health as much as smoking or obesity.
Anxious for Nothing by Max
Lucado
The Beethoven Factor by Paul
Pearsall
Change Your Brain Change Your Body by Daniel
G. Amen
The Last
Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need by Paul Pearsall
The Mindful Way through
Depression by
Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindal Segal & Joh Kabat-Zinn
The Relaxation Response by Herbert
Benson with Miriam Z. Klipper
Rewire Your Anxious Brain by
Catherine M. Pittman & Elizabeth M. Karle
The Solution by Lucinda Bassett
Switch on Your Brain by Caroline
Leaf
Timeless Healing by Herbert Benson with Marg
Stark
Though we might like to
imagine ourselves exercising a lot of conscious control over our lives, a
lot—perhaps half—of what we do in a day is habitual. Our habits can make us or break us. Fortunately,
we can change our habits.
The Big Thing by Phyllis Korkki
Changing for Good by James O. Prochaska, John C.
Norcross & Carlo C. DiClemente
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
How to Fail at Almost Anything and
Still Win Big by
Scott Adams
Level Up Your Life by Steve Kamb
One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Secrets You Keep from Yourself by Dan Neuharth
Small Move, Big Change by Caroline L. Arnold
Succeed by Heidi Grant Halvorson
This Year I Will... by M. J. Ryan
When I want to find some
information, I can pull my cell phone out of my pocket and search for it
using Google (or some other search engine, but
probably Google). I can remember a time when that was not an option. If the
information I needed wasn’t in the dictionary or encyclopedia I had at home (which was already of
date in some areas), I’d have to go to the library for additional references or—heaven forbid—the
morgue of a newspaper office. Getting useful information
was not a trivial affair. The generation before mine that saw a pre-Internet explosion of printed information
after World War II especially felt the difficulty of
keeping up. Evelyn Wood was there with an answer; Marcia Biederman tells her story in Scan Artist.
Evelyn Wood did not invent speed reading. She did not even like the term. However, for decades her name and face was more strongly associated with it than any other person. Though she built her reputation on being a school teacher, she never was not a regular classroom teacher (she was a school counselor) and she was not a reading specialist. She had a master’s degree in speech, earned under the direction of a professor who a studied theater.
Theater may be the lens for looking at Wood’s career. She started writing and staging plays when she was in high school and a college undergraduate. Many of these had religious themes related to her Mormon faith. When she was in Germany, where her husband served as president of the Mormon mission in Frankfurt as the Nazis began their aggressions, she fell in love with the opera and cajoled her way into back stage of the opera house. She began bringing what she learned of stagecraft into her own productions.
Back in the U.S. the Woods put Evelyn’s theatrical skills to work as lecturers on their European experience. They changed their focus as American sentiments shifted from Germany to Britain. They also put a pretty heavy spin on the Mormon relationship with the Nazis and greatly embellished the dangers they face leaving Germany.
Evelyn Wood’s success as
a seller of her speed-reading system was largely built on such theatrics and
embellishments. She claimed student could read thousands of words per minute;
the faster one read the better their comprehension. (The fastest people can
actually read is about 900 words per minute. Anything faster is skimming, and
comprehension suffers when one skims). She managed to get endorsements from senators and she encouraged, or at least never
corrected, the misconception that she was tied to John F. Kennedy and his reportedly fast reading
speed. (Ted Kennedy took her course as a senator, and
staffers in the Kennedy, Nixon and Carter administrations took the course,
including Jimmy Carter himself, though Wood was not the teacher.)
The company she started changed hands and business models several times. A lot of money was made with her name and methods, and in the sale and resale of the company, but the Woods received only a small portion of it. Even so, she was ready to promote herself, her methods and the company that still paid her a consulting fee. She slowed down, but continued to make appearances and accept interview requests even after suffering cancer and a stroke.
While one may sympathize with her, especially in her illness later in life, the Evelyn Wood presented by Biederman is not easy to like. The Wood adopted a teenage girl largely to have a live-in nanny for their natural daughter when they moved to Germany; they never really acknowledge their adopted daughter or even saw her much once she was an adult. Wood was in some ways a con artist who played on the insecurities of her marks, some who were never knocked in spite of the mounting evidence that her program was at best an overprice lesson in skimming.
Wood found a way to take advantage of the insecurity of her day. She built a brand on it. While primarily a biography of Wood, Scan Artist reveals interesting things about America of the time and the obsession with self-improvement. It has not disappeared. Speed-reading apps still claim to greatly increase both speed and comprehension. TED-talkers claim to read a book or more a day. The Internet makes it easy to acquire a shallow knowledge of almost anything quickly, so perhaps people have become satisfied with what they can learn from skimming hundreds of books a year. Deep learning and understanding remains slow and effortful.
Biederman, Marcia. Scan Artist: How Evelyn Wood Convinced the World that Speed-Reading Worked. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2019.
