DEDICATION
To
my first wife Doreen, who gave me the best gift that I have ever received, ---
my daughter Cindy. To Cindy for forcing
me to confront fears that I had avoided before her birth. And to the unending motivation that she has
given me over the years, which has finally resulted in the writing of this
book. To
my second wife, Feri Shobihi-Adams who often said that she knew next to nothing
about psychology, but in reality, she knew far more about human behavior than I
ever did myself.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am indebted to every
person who has worked in a library system throughout Canada and the United States of America.
To every philanthropist who donated or bequeathed money to build and stock such
libraries. To the unending stream of
authors, especially in the field of psychology who literally became my teachers
in a life-long attempt on my part, --- (I am 78 years old) --- to understand
why I could not control my nerves, which inevitably led to the writing of this
book.
Many of those authors have
been quoted in this book. Many others should also be acknowledged except
that this writer did not keep adequate notes over the course of the last 30 or more years. As
a result, some of the credit for this book goes to authors who are not
personally recognized. I have made a determined
effort to trace all of the holders of copyright material that I have used in
this book. I sincerely regret if I have made any inadvertent
omissions. Hopefully, there will be further editions of this book which
will allow me to rectify any such omissions.
Special acknowledgement
must be made to the long deceased couple, Harry Overstreet and Bonaro
Overstreet. Mr. Overstreet’s book called, --- About Ourselves ---,
which was written in 1927, is one of the most influential ones that I have had
the privilege of reading. Here is an except from a
letter that Mrs. Bonaro Overstreet sent to me dated February 16, 1972. “It is
well established that many physical problems have a
psychological origin.” [My story about Helen Irving, which appears later
in this book, is a prime example of this phenomena.]
The life’s work of Dr.
Peter R. Breggin and Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, easily portrays them as two of the
giants of their profession. It is from such Doctors, who exhibit an ultimate
level of patience and empathy for those who need their help, that the future
success of psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy resides so
convincingly.
Perhaps the most important book was written by Dr. A. G. Forgione. He came within an Ace of putting forward the ideas that I am trying to get accepted today. I am only guessing but I think other Psychologists convinced him that although his ideas had value there was much more to it than he realized. Although that is certainly true, it is also true that his ideas were more in keeping with reality than those which the psychological profession was preaching at that time [1978] and what they are preaching as the gospel truth today.
Perhaps the most important book was written by Dr. A. G. Forgione. He came within an Ace of putting forward the ideas that I am trying to get accepted today. I am only guessing but I think other Psychologists convinced him that although his ideas had value there was much more to it than he realized. Although that is certainly true, it is also true that his ideas were more in keeping with reality than those which the psychological profession was preaching at that time [1978] and what they are preaching as the gospel truth today.
And finally, I wish to
acknowledge the motivational power of the following question that I have asked
myself over the last 40 years or more of my life: --- “What have I done to
thank my Creator for allowing me to experience the incredible miracle of life?” With the publication of
this book and its hoped for acceptance and ultimately, the use of the ideas
contained herein, it is my fervent hope that my answer to the above question
will be as follows: ---
“As much as I possibly
could to help my fellow travelers through life today and --- for every day that
the human race continues to exist.”
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Buck teeth, big ears, 6 ft.
2 inches tall and skinny as a rail, these physical features combined with other
negative psychological components to construct a massive inferiority complex
inside my mind as I entered my adolescent
years. I am now 78 years old,
married and retired. Because my father answered almost all of my
questions by saying,“ that’swhy”, he inadvertently motivated me to start going
to libraries to find out the answers to my questions myself.
In this way, I was allowed
to “get in touch” with many brilliant authors who poured out their hearts and
the knowledge that they had acquired, into the books that they wrote and I was
fortunate enough to be able to read. I still vividly remember the
moment in the analytical geometry class in school when I realized that ax + by
+ c = 0, represented every possible line that one could draw. Suddenly I became aware
that a world that seemed to be unregulated and at the whim of chance, might
just have order and meaning behind its chaotic facade.
At the age of 33, and
because my first marriage was not successful, and further, because my nerves
were shot, I went to the library to find out how to control my nerves and
handle stress. This book is the culmination
of a self-taught “University degree” in the discipline of how the human mind
functions. I confidently predict that if you read this book, it will
become a defining moment in your life. I can be reached at
strarrow2@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
This is the second edition
of this book. I probably should have
called the first book, --- Understanding Human Behavior also, but alas I did
not. There is no sense crying over
spilled milk. Let’s get on with it as it
is. I believed that when people
read the first edition of this book the truth that is represented therein would
become self-evident and the rest would become history. Obviously I was wrong.
Unfortunately telling the
truth is not always the best approach. When
I said that I drove a taxi for 32 years, most people wrote me off as someone
who is suffering from delusions of grandeur.
From this particular vantage point I cannot blame them. As I have stated elsewhere,
I went to a University of my own choosing at my local libraries and I have no
credentials to provide to you to prove that I have done so.
Only if you ignore your
preconceptions and read the entire book will you have the chance to conclude
that I indeed know what I am writing about and indeed ---I have discovered, by
hook or by crook, a deeper level of understanding about how the human mind
functions. While the above words are true, under no circumstances does this mean that I understand all human behavior. It means exactly what I have written above. This second edition will
provide even more evidence to prove that my above hypotheses is correct and
that represents the sum total of the motivation for writing this book. Now back to the words that I wrote in the
first edition of this book.
Since the human race began,
we have all been amateur psychologists trying to understand why human beings
behave the way they do. Although we know that understanding fear is extremely
important, we have failed to realize that it is actually at the very core of
the question. The ultimate purpose of
this book is to set aside much of what the psychological profession now
considers to be the very bedrock of their understanding in their chosen
field.
Specifically, the accepted
belief that most forms of mental illness are caused by either genetic damage or
a chemical imbalance inside the human brain, --- will be shown to be false in many or most cases. As a result of this book,
many of those people who were told that they are mentally ill, will in the
future be recognized as suffering from a conglomeration of distorted
fears which manifest themselves in the adverse reactions and irrational
behavior that such fears can cause to happen.
Numerous examples will be
given to show that such distorted fears have succeeded in deflecting the
individual’s behavior so drastically that a Psychiatrist has labeled the
individual in question as being mentally ill. This book will prove that
at all times, these deflections are all negotiable and as a result, the
individual in question can be successfully returned to an accepted level of
behavior that the Psychiatric profession and the public at large has determined
to be rational and normal.
If this was the extent of
the value that this book has to offer to the human race, that in itself would
be incredibly important; however the increased illumination that this book has
to offer concerning the manner in which the human mind functions, will also
allow those of us who are considered to be “normal”, to embrace life more
abundantly than ever before.
With more than 7 billion
people on the face of the earth, what is required more than anything else at
this time, is more people who can involve themselves in more achievements
without unnecessarily damaging their physical, emotional and mental well-being. Although it would be
tantalizing to believe that such incredible changes could be realized almost
immediately, reality dictates otherwise. The collective fear of
change inside the human mind is such that old ideas, no matter how archaic,
continue to receive acclaim far beyond the time when they should have been
discarded in favor of better and more realistic ideas.
The writing of this book and its subsequent publication is in my
confident opinion, one of many important steps that must be taken if a deeper
level of understanding about how the human mind functions is ever to replace
the partial understanding that now prevails. Of course this new level of
understanding that I wish to put forward is partial in nature also.
Future generations may well look upon it as a miniscule step in our attempts to
understand the incredible complexities of the human mind.
We are creatures of trial
and error and as such we can develop distorted fears about making mistakes
which cause us to fail at whatever we are trying to achieve. This is a perfectly natural
and realistic fear for under certain circumstances, a mistake could cost
someone his or her life as well as others also.
This book with its new
ideas will contain many mistakes. But the psychiatric profession is
making millions of mistakes, --- many of which they are not even aware
of. When the ideas in this book
are accepted for the truth that they represent, it will result in a virtual “Recall
To Life” for many people who have been unnecessarily set aside as being
defective and dependent, rather than perfectly normal and productive.
It will also see those who
have spent their entire lives studying psychology being able to help people with
problems that I will be unable to fathom simply because they will be more in
tune with the basic requirements needed to help that person. Of course this will all be
dependent upon the willingness of such a person to give up their old ideas for
the new and improved ideas that I am trying to put forward. The following paraphrased
quote from Winston Churchill will appropriately bring this introduction to an
end: “Let us therefore conduct
ourselves in such a manner so that if the human race should continue to exist
for another million years, men and women will still say --- this was their
finest hour.”
CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
THE “NORMAL” AREA OF THE BEHAVIORAL.SPECTRUM
Deflections
Mistakes
Stress
Adrenaline
Helen’s
Hives
Stuttering
Solved
Out With
It
The
King’s Speech
Migraine
Headaches
Ulcers
CHAPTER 2
THE
ABNORMAL AREA
OF THE
BEHAVIORAL SPECTRUM
SIGMUND FREUD
BIO-PSYCHIATRY
PSYCHOTHERAPY
NEUROLEPTIC
DRUGS
CHLORPROMAZINE
HOW TO
BECOME
A
SCHIZOPHRENIC
ANN
LANDERS
ASK AMY
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
DR. PETER
BREGGIN
CHAPTER 3
ON THE
CUSP
DEPRESSION
STOP
STUTTERING
THE
KING'S SPEECH
MIGRAINE
HEADACHES
MYTH OR
TRUTH
ANGELA
SUPERMAN
HUMAN
SEXUALITY
THE
WOUNDS OF WAR
EMOTION
ALZHEIMER'S
DISEASE
CHAPTER 4
INTERCREATING MINDS
SYMPHONY
OF LIFE
CHANGING
ONE’S
PERSONALITY
BEHAVIORAL
CONSULTANTS
SOCIAL
THERAPY
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