The Other Side Of Normal

Download or read book The Other Side of Normal written by Jordan Smoller and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychiatry has ignored the normal. The focus on defining abnormal behavior has obscured what turns out to be a more fundamental question—how does the biology of the brain give rise to the mind, which in turn gives rise to everything we care about: thoughts, feelings, desires, and relationships? In The Other Side of Normal, Harvard psychiatrist Jordan Smoller shows us that understanding what the mind was designed to do in the first place demystifies mental illness and builds a new foundation for defining psychiatric disorders—from autism to depression. Smoller argues there are no bright lines between normal and abnormal. Psychiatric disorders are variations of the same brain systems that evolved to help us solve the challenges of everyday life. How do we become who we are? Smoller explains where our personalities come from, and how the temperaments we had as infants actually stay with us into adulthood. Why do we choose to date, love, and marry the people we do? Why do some of us form healthy relationships while others form unstable ones? Our relationships are shaped by the biology that drives two imperatives: maternal-child bonding and child-parent attachment. Along the way, Smoller tackles an even greater question—what do we mean by "normal"?—as he explores the puzzles behind the epidemics of multiple personalities and koro, the shocking phobia that one's penis is shrinking. He also looks at the controversial history of psychiatric classification and the explosive debates over how much early experiences influence our minds and to what degree genetics affect our temperaments, personalities, and emotional lives. Throughout this examination, Smoller explores the hidden sides of such questions as: How are trust and love rooted in biology? How much does sexual attraction stem from biology rather than culture? And what can the scientific study of normal behavior tell us about what it means to be human? Based on the author's groundbreaking research and personal experiences treating psychological disorders, The Other Side of Normal changes the way we think about the human condition.

Download or read book The Other Side of Normal written by F. Michael Horn and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2002-05-28 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is an outgrowth of two profound life experiences. One took place in graduate school, preparing for a career as a clinical psychologist. One professor, well into middle age, began pontificating on homosexuality. Without hesitation he made a pronouncement which was delivered as the final immutable truth on the subject: Men do NOT love one another. It was delivered with a finality of conviction, of ultimate judgment. I wondered how he knew; how he could be so sure; what had given him the right to speak so authoritatively on a matter he in all likelihood had never experienced nor ever would. It struck me as the ultimate arrogance. That was 1980. The second experience was the ever popular enquiry: What do homosexuals do with each other? This question is rarely one of innocent curiosity but rather one of disbelief, incredulity, distaste, disgust, even thinly disguised contempt. Both these early experiences impressed me as a powerful negation of our core essence as gay men in the world. It seemed incredible that who we are should be dismissed with a wave of the hand, as if the gay experience is of no consequence whatsoever, a mere pock mark on otherwise unblemished skin. Even nineteenth century Victorians were never so cavalier about [hetero] sexuality. Few, if any of us, growing up in heterosexual society, avoid the experience of being wholly dismissed in this way, as if our very existence is irrelevant, perhaps should never have been. This is profoundly corrosive of our core sense of human integrity. An ineradicable message is implanted: that of deviate, defective, unworthy, condemned. This unavoidably etches a deep experience of shame within us all. Over the years, with maturity, we slowly come to terms with who we are, always at a price. What do homosexuals do with each other? The fulcrum of the question is on the do-ing. It completely ignores the be-ing; what does a gay man feel about men? How are such feelings distinct from those felt by heterosexual men for other men? The feelings we hold for one another are rarely of concern to the hetero. It just doesn't get asked. Curiosity stops here. It seems a discussion that prefers to be shunned. Bringing it up evokes fear and discomfort and embarrasment, even shame. We are cued into silence. It is a silence which intrudes into our shared moments of intimacy with other men. Unaware of our shame, we prefer instead to utter the body language of sex, giving voice to the feeling within, through the do-ing. Sex often serves an unwitting purpose of helping us avoid our feelings. What we take to bed with us is the commonplace heterosexual male model of using sex to spare us the whole range in feelings which naturally arise with intimacy between human beings. In their case, however, the female presence helps balance out this inclination. Healthy women are active seekers of intimacy and feeling expression. As gay men we are required to find this balance within ourselves. It wasn't so very long ago that, not only did we not have the right to have sex with one another; we didn't even have the right to be in one another's company. Meeting one another socially, in public places or private gathering was fraught with risk. In almost any gay bar or restuarant, entrapment by the vice squad was a very real threat. The accusation was tantamount to the conviction, particularly as to employers, authority figures, parents, family, community. This was a de-facto suspension of civil rights: freedom of assembly; freedom of association; freedom from harassment; threat, coercion, intimidation, habeas corpus, rights to privacy, and so on. Our lives were dismissed out of hand. Like the Jews in 1940's Europe, our very existence was taken from us. Like theirs, our very livelihood was at stake. We were relegated to the fringes of society, forced to live in shame and in secrecy. Certainly this did not provide a conducive atmosphere for

Download or read book The Other Side of Normal written by Isabel Reyes and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2014-06-03 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Noelle and Cameron have been fighting their personal demons for years. When they meet in a writing class during their last year of college, there is a strong attraction that neither can explain. As they get to know each other, they learn to work through their crises, forgive themselves and love each other.

Download or read book The Other Side of Perfect written by Mariko Turk and published by Poppy. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For fans of Sarah Dessen and Mary H.K. Choi, this lyrical and emotionally driven novel follows Alina, a young aspiring dancer who suffers a devastating injury and must face a world without ballet—as well as the darker side of her former dream. Alina Keeler was destined to dance, but then a terrifying fall shatters her leg—and her dreams of a professional ballet career along with it. After a summer healing (translation: eating vast amounts of Cool Ranch Doritos and binging ballet videos on YouTube), she is forced to trade her pre-professional dance classes for normal high school, where she reluctantly joins the school musical. However, rehearsals offer more than she expected—namely Jude, her annoyingly attractive castmate she just might be falling for. But to move forward, Alina must make peace with her past and face the racism she experienced in the dance industry. She wonders what it means to yearn for ballet—something so beautiful, yet so broken. And as broken as she feels, can she ever open her heart to someone else? Touching, romantic, and peppered with humor, this debut novel explores the tenuousness of perfectionism, the possibilities of change, and the importance of raising your voice.

Download or read book The City on the Other Side written by Mairghread Scott and published by First Second Books. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Isabel breached an invisible barrier her world completely changed.

Download or read book The Other Side of Impossible written by Susannah Meadows and published by Random House. This book was released on 2017-05-02 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You’re faced with a difficult health condition. You have exhausted medicine’s answers. What do you do? Susannah Meadows tells the real-life stories of seven families who persisted when traditional medicine alone wasn’t enough. Their adventures take us to the outer frontiers of medical science and cutting-edge complementary therapies, as Meadows explores research into the mind’s potential to heal the body, the possible role food may play in reversing disease, the power of agency, perseverance, and hope—and more. When journalist Susannah Meadows noticed her three-year-old son, Shepherd, shying away from soccer practice, she had no idea it was the first sign of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The diagnosis was the first step of a long journey, physically painful for Shepherd and emotionally wrenching for Susannah and her family. But they pressed on, and using a combination of traditional and complementary medicine they beat the disease, and the odds. Meadows chronicles her own story, and takes you into the lives of other remarkable people, exploring their heartbreaks and triumphs. One boy who has severe food allergies undergoes an unconventional therapy and is soon eating everything. An organic farmer in Washington State tries to solve the puzzle of her daughter’s epileptic seizures. A physician with MS creates her own combination of treatments and goes from a wheelchair to riding a bike again. A child diagnosed with ADHD refuses to take medication and instead improves his life, and the life of his family, after changing his diet. Other families take on rheumatoid arthritis and autistic behaviors. Meadows includes new information about traditional and nontraditional medicine and the latest science on how the health of our gut bacteria is connected to wellness—and how the right foods play a key role in helping this microscopic population thrive. She also talks with scientists who study the traits and circumstances that may make some people keep going when others feel helpless. These researchers are illuminating the psychology of healing—how the mind, and asserting control over your body and health, can play a part in recovery. Fascinating, moving, and profoundly inspiring, The Other Side of Impossible gives us people driven by love, desperation, and astonishing resolve—a community of the defiant who share an extraordinary talent for hope and for fighting the battle for healing in today’s world and tomorrow’s.

Download or read book The Right Side of Normal written by Cindy Gaddis and published by Booklocker.com. This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding and honoring the natural learning path for right-brained children