Mental Immunity

Download or read book Mental Immunity written by Andy Norman and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do people reject science and believe online conspiracy theories? How are people radicalized online and go on to commit acts of violence? Why is our society so politically polarized? Astonishingly irrational ideas are spreading. Covid denial persists in the face of overwhelming evidence. Anti-vaxxers compromise public health. Conspiracy thinking hijacks minds and incites mob violence. Toxic partisanship is cleaving nations, and climate denial has pushed our planet to the brink. Meanwhile, American Nazis march openly in the streets, and Flat Earth theory is back. What the heck is going on? Why is all this happening, and why now? More important, what can we do about it? In Mental Immunity, Andy Norman shows that these phenomena share a root cause. We live in a time when the so-called “right to your opinion” is thought to trump our responsibilities. The resulting ethos effectively compromises mental immune systems, allowing “mind parasites” to overrun them. Conspiracy theories, evidence-defying ideologies, garden-variety bad ideas: these are all species of mind parasite, and each of them employs clever strategies to circumvent mental immune systems. In fact, some of them compromise cultural immune systems – the things societies do to prevent bad ideas from spreading. Norman shows why all of this is more than mere analogy: minds and cultures really do have immune systems, and they really can break down. Fortunately, they can also be built up: strengthened against ideological corruption. He calls for a rigorous science of mental immune health – what he calls “cognitive immunology” – and explains how it could revolutionize our capacity for critical thinking. Hailed as “a feast for thought,” Mental Immunity melds cutting-edge work in science and philosophy into an “astonishingly enlightening and productive” solution to the signature problem of our age. A practical guide to spotting and removing bad ideas, a stirring call to transcend our petty tribalisms, and a serious bid to bring humanity to its senses.

Download or read book The Immune System and Mental Health written by Hymie Anisman and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2018-07-19 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Immune System and Mental Health fully investigates how immune-related cellular, molecular and anatomical changes impact mental functioning. The book combines human and animal studies to reveal immunological changes related to mental-health problems. In addition, users will find comprehensive information on new research related to the microbial composition of the gut, aka, the microbiome, and how it influences brain function and mental health. Common comorbidities with mental illness and their inherent immunological or inflammatory components are also covered. Written by leaders in the field, the book synthesizes basic and clinical research to provide a thorough understanding on the role of immunity in neuropsychiatry. Sociology, psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience and genetics have provided considerable explanations and solutions to some of the most intractable mental-health problems. But researchers are increasingly relying on investigations of the immune system to identify factors that can undermine and impair mental health. This book covers devastating mental-health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and autism-like spectrum disorders. In addition, degenerative disorders of the brain, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's-like dementia are explored. - Considers both basic human and animal studies that address immunological changes relating to mental health problems across the lifespan - Incorporates techniques, concepts and ideas from a variety of social, behavioral and life sciences - Explores the relatively new area of the microbiome and how the microbial composition of the gut influences brain function and mental health

Download or read book Immunity to Change written by Robert Kegan and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2009-02-15 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlock your potential and finally move forward. A recent study showed that when doctors tell heart patients they will die if they don't change their habits, only one in seven will be able to follow through successfully. Desire and motivation aren't enough: even when it's literally a matter of life or death, the ability to change remains maddeningly elusive. Given that the status quo is so potent, how can we change ourselves and our organizations? In Immunity to Change, authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey show how our individual beliefs--along with the collective mind-sets in our organizations--combine to create a natural but powerful immunity to change. By revealing how this mechanism holds us back, Kegan and Lahey give us the keys to unlock our potential and finally move forward. And by pinpointing and uprooting our own immunities to change, we can bring our organizations forward with us. This persuasive and practical book, filled with hands-on diagnostics and compelling case studies, delivers the tools you need to overcome the forces of inertia and transform your life and your work.

Download or read book The Neuroimmunological Basis of Behavior and Mental Disorders written by Allan Siegel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-11-09 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many years, the immune and central nervous systems were thought to function independently with little or no interaction between the two. This view has und- gone dramatic changes over the past three decades. Indeed, we now know that there exists various feedback loops between the brain and immune systems that impact signi cantly upon different behavioral processes, including normal behavior and mental disorders. Pioneering efforts in generating this change were initiated by a number of early investigators. Included were those whose efforts were directed at establishing neuroimmune connections as well as others whose research focused upon the relationship between immunity, cytokines, and behavior. This book brings together outstanding scientists and clinicians who have made major contributions to the rapidly developing eld investigating the relationship between immunity and behavior. The book is divided into three parts. The rst part describes pathways by which the brain and immune systems communicate and int- act with each other. In the chapter “Cytokines and the Blood–Brain Barrier” p- vides insight into interactions between the blood–brain barrier and cytokines. Such interactions underlie basic communication between the immune system and brain that are present in normal as well as in disease conditions. In the chapter “Neu- chemical and Endocrine Responses to Immune Activation: The Role of Cytokines,” the neurochemical and endocrine consequences of immune challenge and cytokine administration on central neurotransmitter activity are discussed.

Download or read book Textbook of Immunopsychiatry written by Golam Khandaker and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-23 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rapidly growing field of immunopsychiatry combines expertise and insights from immunology, psychiatry and neuroscience to understand the role of inflammation and other immune processes in causing and treating mental illness. This represents a major shift in mental health science, traditionally focused on psychological and neuronal mechanisms of depression, psychosis and dementia. This book provides the first comprehensive overview of recent, inter-disciplinary research linking disordered function of the immune system to the brain and mental illness. It offers a broad and deep perspective on the implications of immune system involvement in psychiatric disorders, including a balanced focus on basic science and clinical applications. Chapters cover the scientific evidence linking immune processes to major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and dementia. An invaluable guide for graduate students, doctors in training, scientific researchers and others interested in the link between the immune system and mental health.

Download or read book Touching a Nerve: Our Brains, Our Selves written by Patricia Churchland and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2013-07-22 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A trailblazing philosopher’s exploration of the latest brain science—and its ethical and practical implications. What happens when we accept that everything we feel and think stems not from an immaterial spirit but from electrical and chemical activity in our brains? In this thought-provoking narrative—drawn from professional expertise as well as personal life experiences—trailblazing neurophilosopher Patricia S. Churchland grounds the philosophy of mind in the essential ingredients of biology. She reflects with humor on how she came to harmonize science and philosophy, the mind and the brain, abstract ideals and daily life. Offering lucid explanations of the neural workings that underlie identity, she reveals how the latest research into consciousness, memory, and free will can help us reexamine enduring philosophical, ethical, and spiritual questions: What shapes our personalities? How do we account for near-death experiences? How do we make decisions? And why do we feel empathy for others? Recent scientific discoveries also provide insights into a fascinating range of real-world dilemmas—for example, whether an adolescent can be held responsible for his actions and whether a patient in a coma can be considered a self. Churchland appreciates that the brain-based understanding of the mind can unnerve even our greatest thinkers. At a conference she attended, a prominent philosopher cried out, “I hate the brain; I hate the brain!” But as Churchland shows, he need not feel this way. Accepting that our brains are the basis of who we are liberates us from the shackles of superstition. It allows us to take ourselves seriously as a product of evolved mechanisms, past experiences, and social influences. And it gives us hope that we can fix some grievous conditions, and when we cannot, we can at least understand them with compassion.

Download or read book IMMUNITY written by DR JENNA. MACCIOCHI and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: