Capture: Unraveling the mystery of mental suffering. Kessler, MD

Why do we think, feel, and act in ways we wished we did not? For decades, New York Times bestselling author Dr. David A Kessler has studied this question with regard to tobacco, food, and drugs. Over the course of these investigations, he identified one underlying mechanism common to a broad range of human suffering. This phenomenoncaptureis the process by which our attention is hijacked and our brains commandeered by forces outside our control. In Capture, Dr. Kessler considers some of the most profound questions we face as human beings: What are the origins of mental afflictions, from everyday unhappiness to addiction and depressionand how are they connected? Where does healing and transcendence fit into this realm of emotional experience? Analyzing an array of insights from psychology, medicine, neuroscience, literature, philosophy, and theology, Dr. Kessler deconstructs centuries of thinking, examining the central role of capture in mental illness and questioning traditional labels that have obscured our understanding of it. With a new basis for understanding the phenomenon of capture, he explores the concept through the emotionally resonant stories of both well-known and un-known people caught in its throes. The closer we can come to fully comprehending the nature of capture, Dr. Kessler argues, the better the chance to alleviate its deleterious effects and successfully change our thoughts and behavior Ultimately, Capture offers insight into how we form thoughts and emotions, manage trauma, and heal. For the first time, we can begin to understand the underpinnings of not only mental illness, but also our everyday worries and anxieties. Capture is an intimate and critical exploration of the most enduring human mystery of all: the mind. Why Do We Think, Feel, And Act In Ways We Wish We Did Not? For Decades, Dr. David A Kessler Has Studied This Question With Regard To Tobacco, Food, And Drugs. Over The Course Of These Investigations, He Identified One Underlying Mechanism Common To A Broad Range Of Human Suffering. This Phenomenon--capture--is The Process By Which Our Attention Is Hijacked And Our Brains Commandeered By Forces Outside Our Control. In This Book, Dr. Kessler Considers Some Of The Most Profound Questions We Face As Human Beings: What Are The Origins Of Mental Afflictions, From Everyday Unhappiness To Addiction And Depression--and How Are They Connected? Where Does Healing And Transcendence Fit Into This Realm Of Emotional Experience? Analyzing An Array Of Insights From Psychology, Medicine, Neuroscience, Literature, Philosophy, And Theology, Dr. Kessler Deconstructs Centuries Of Thinking, Examining The Central Role Of Capture In Mental Illness And Questioning Traditional Labels That Have Obscured Our Understanding Of It. With A New Basis For Understanding The Phenomenon Of Capture, He Explores The Concept Through The Emotionally Resonant Stories Of Both Well-known And Unknown People Caught In Its Throes. The Closer We Can Come To Fully Comprehending The Nature Of Capture, Dr. Kessler Argues, The Better The Chance To Alleviate Its Deleterious Effects And Successfully Change Our Thinking And Behaviors. Ultimately, Capture Offers Insight Into How We Form Thoughts And Emotions, Manage Trauma, And Heal. For The First Time, We Can Begin To Understand The Underpinnings Not Only Of Mental Illness But Also Of Our Everyday Worries And Anxieties. Capture Is An Intimate And Critical Exploration Of The Most Enduring Human Mystery Of All: The Mind.--adapted From Dust Jacket. A Human Mystery. The Terrible Master ; Capture ; The Nature Of Mental Distress ; The Search For A Common Mechanism -- The Historical And Scientific Context Of Capture. William James And Attention ; Freud And Drive ; The Science Underlying Capture -- What Captures?. A Continuum From The Ordinary To Mental Illness ; Rejection ; A Brutish Father ; Drink ; Physical Pain ; Childhood Trauma ; Blind Love ; Obscene Fascination ; Gambling ; The Body ; A Work Of Art ; Death ; A Threat ; Two Addicts ; Control ; Sadness ; Grandeur ; Abandonment ; Going Mad ; Accumulation Of Burdens ; A Unified Theory -- When Capture Turns On The Self. David Foster Wallace -- When Capture Leads To Violence. Striking Out ; The Assassination Of Robert Kennedy ; The Columbine School Shootings ; The Murder Of John Lennon ; The Murders At Sandy Hook Elementary School ; A Theory Of Human Capital -- Capture And Ideology. The America I Have Seen ; The Obligation Of Our Time ; I'm Going Traveling ; @slaveofallah -- Capture And Spirituality. Capture By The Divine ; Paying Attention ; Captured By A Message ; The Revelation Of Nature -- Capture And Change. Martin Luther's Anfechtungen ; Meaningful Association ; Moments Of Clarity ; A Creative Life ; Compelled To Be Different ; Being In The Right Place ; Distracting The Black Dog ; Belief ; Good-bye To All That ; Reconciliation And Forgiveness ; A Toolkit Borrowed From Buddhism ; Is There Freedom From Capture? ; A Modest Form Of Autonomy. David A. Kessler, Md. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 269-387) And Index. This Handbook Presents State-of-the-art Contributions From The Most Notable Writers On Philosophy Of Emotion. Anyone Working On The Nature Of Emotion, Its History, Or Its Relation To Reason Self, Value, Or Art, Whether At The Level Of Research Or Advanced Study, Will Find The Book An Unrivalled Resource And A Fascinating Read. What Emotions Are -- History Of Emotion -- Emotions And Practical Reason -- Emotions And The Self -- Emotion, Value, And Morality -- Emotion, Art, And Aesthetics. About The Authors -- Introduction / Peter Goldie. -- Part I. What Emotions Are: 1. Concepts Of Emotions In Modern Philosophy And Psychology / John Deigh -- 2. The Thing Called Emotion / Aaron Ben-ze'ev -- 3. Describing The Forms Of Emotional Colouring That Pervade Everyday Life / Roddy Cowie -- 4. The Mind's Bermuda Triangle : Philosophy Of Emotions And Empirical Science / Ronald De Sousa. -- Part Ii. The History Of Emotion: 5. Emotions In Plato And Aristotle / A.w. Price -- 6. Stoicism And Epicureanism / Christopher Gill -- 7. Emotions In Medieval Thought / Peter King -- 8. A Sentimentalist's Defense Of Contempt, Shame, And Disdain / Kate Abramson -- 9. Emotions In Heidegger And Sartre / Anthony Hatzimoysis -- 10. Reinstating The Passions : Arguments From The History Of Psychopathology / Louis C. Charland. -- Part Iii. Emotions And Practical Reason: 11. Emotional Choice And Rational Choice / Jon Elster -- 12. Why Be Emotional? / Sabine A. Döring -- 13. Emotions And Motivation : Reconsidering Neo-jamesian Accounts / Bennett W. Helm -- 14. Emotion, Motivation, And Action : The Case Of Fear / Christine Tappolet. -- Part Iv. Emotions And The Self: 15. The Phenomenology Of Mood And The Meaning Of Life / Matthew Ratcliffe -- 16. Saying It / David Pugmire -- 17. Epistemic Emotions / Adam Morton -- 18. Intellectual And Other Nonstandard Emotions / Michael Stocker -- 19. A Plea For Ambivalence / Amelie Rorty -- 20. Emotion, Self-/other-awareness, And Autism : A Developmental Perspective / R. Peter Hobson. -- Part V. Emotion, Value, And Morality: 21. Emotion And Values / Kevin Mulligan -- 22. An Ethics Of Emotion? / Jerome Neu -- 23. The Moral Emotions / Jesse J. Prinz -- 24. Learning Emotions And Ethics / Patricia Greenspan -- 25. Emotions And The Canons Of Evaluation / Robert C. Roberts -- 26. Demystifying Sensibilities : Sentimental Values And The Instability Of Affect / Justin D'arms And Daniel Jacobson. -- Part Vi. Emotion, Art, And Aesthetics: 27. Expression In The Arts / Derek Matravers -- 28. Affects In Appreciation / Susan L. Feagin -- 29. Emotional Responses To Music : What Are They? How Do They Work? And Are They Relevant To Aesthetic Appreciation? / Jenefer Robinson -- 30. Emotions, Art, And Immorality / Matthew Kieren. -- Index. Edited By Peter Goldie. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "A breakthrough book. In a world of increasingly specialized knowledge, it takes a particular gift and some stubbornness to cut across the fields of neuroscience, psychiatry, philosophy and psychology and to ask the fundamental question: Why it is that we can allow our best selves to be captured by and torpedoed by thoughts and actions that sink us?. . . . [Kessler's] ultimate answer is profound and one that could be life-changing and life-saving. I know I will be handing this book out for just that reason." — Abraham Verghese, MD, author of Cutting for Stone In Capture, New York Times bestselling author Dr. David A. Kessler considers some of the most profound questions we face as human beings: What are the origins of mental afflictions, from everyday unhappiness to addiction and depression—and how are they connected? Where does healing and transcendence fit into this realm of emotional experience? Analyzing an array of insights from psychology, medicine, neuroscience, literature, philosophy, and theology, Dr. Kessler deconstructs centuries of thinking, examining the central role of capture in mental illness and questioning traditional labels that have obscured our understanding of it. Looking to the emotionally resonant lives of figures such as David Foster Wallace, Virginia Woolf, William James, Tennessee Williams, John Belushi, Sylvia Plath, and Robert Lowell, among others, he explains how this concept is at play in their lives and—by extension—our own. Ultimately, Capture offers insight into how we form thoughts and emotions, manage trauma, and heal. For the first time, we can begin to understand the underpinnings not only of mental illness but also of our everyday worries and anxieties. Capture is an intimate and critical exploration of the most enduring human mystery of all: the mind. Why do we think, feel, and act in ways we wished we did not? For decades, Dr. David A Kessler has studied this question with regard to tobacco, food, and drugs. Over the course of these investigations, he identified one underlying mechanism common to a broad range of human suffering. This phenomenon--capture--is the process by which our attention is hijacked and our brains commandeered by forces outside our control. In this book, Dr. Kessler considers some of the most profound questions we face as human beings: What are the origins of mental afflictions, from everyday unhappiness to addiction and depression--and how are they connected? Where does healing and transcendence fit into this realm of emotional experience? Analyzing an array of insights from psychology, medicine, neuroscience, literature, philosophy, and theology, Dr. Kessler deconstructs centuries of thinking, examining the central role of capture in mental illness and questioning traditional labels that have obscured our understanding of it. With a new basis for understanding the phenomenon of capture, he explores the concept through the emotionally resonant stories of both well-known and unknown people caught in its throes. The closer we can come to fully comprehending the nature of capture, Dr. Kessler argues, the better the chance to alleviate its deleterious effects and successfully change our thinking and behaviors. Ultimately, Capture offers insight into how we form thoughts and emotions, manage trauma, and heal. For the first time, we can begin to understand the underpinnings not only of mental illness but also of our everyday worries and anxieties. Capture is an intimate and critical exploration of the most enduring human mystery of all: the mind.--Adapted from dust jacket In this revolutionary and provocative exploration of the history, biology, treatment, and shared experience of mental anguish, the New York Times bestselling author and former FDA Commissioner examines how and why we become the agents of our own suffering and what we can do to change it. His unified theory of the mind—which he terms "capture"—will transform how we understand the unwanted thoughts that trouble all of us. Dr. David A. Kessler has spent the past two decades studying how addictive substances can influence our thoughts and behavior. In Capture, he considers some of the most profound questions we face as human beings: Why do we think and act in ways that are detrimental to our wellbeing? What is the origin of emotional anguish, from everyday unhappiness to mental illness? Is it possible that addiction, depression, anxiety, obsession, bipolar disorder, and even psychosis are somehow manifestations of the same biological mechanism? Informed by... This volume contains thirty-one state-of-the-art contributions from leading figures in the study of emotion today. The volume addresses all the central philosophical issues in current emotion research, including: the nature of emotion and of emotional life; the history of emotion from Plato to Sartre; emotion and practical reason; emotion and the self; emotion, value, and morality; and emotion, art and aesthetics. Anyone interested in the philosophy of emotion, and its wide-ranging implications in other related fields such as morality and aesthetics, will want to consult this book. It will be a vital resource not only for scholars and graduate students but also for undergraduates who are finding their way into this fascinating topic.