{"id":799,"date":"2020-02-19T17:20:55","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T22:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/?p=799"},"modified":"2020-02-19T17:20:55","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T22:20:55","slug":"book-reviews-optimizing-the-brain-and-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/book-reviews-optimizing-the-brain-and-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Reviews: Optimizing the Brain and Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have read a slew of new and upcoming books recently dealing with psychology and addiction.\u00a0 Here are my favorites:<\/p>\n

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1) Quit Like A Woman<\/strong> by Holly Whitaker.\u00a0 This book is good for anybody who questions either their relationship with alcohol or American culture’s relationship with it, as Holly goes into her theories on these topics.\u00a0 Unlike many authors who write about addictive behavior, she does not believe in the term “alcoholic”, for intriguing reasons.\u00a0 Holly has great, no nonsense advice on how to remove the influence of alcohol from one’s life and build a new, alcohol-free lifestyle.\u00a0 She also talks in detail about how alcohol is used by dominant forces in society to suppress non-dominant people, such as women and the poor.\u00a0 This was an engaging book and highly recommended.<\/p>\n

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2) Sober Curious<\/strong> by Ruby Warrington.\u00a0 Another recent book on reducing alcohol use for one’s own good, this book talks of the benefits of a more sober lifestyle, including better health, spiritual progress, and richer connections with other people.\u00a0 This book is not designed for a serious alcoholic, but rather, for somebody who is wondering just what life might be like without the typical weekend hangover.\u00a0 Unlike Whitaker, she does not preach complete abstinence, but is instead a proponent of mindful drinking, rather than just drinking because it is expected of you.\u00a0 If you’ve ever been curious about how life would be without the influence of alcohol, this book is for you.<\/p>\n

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3) The End of Mental Illness<\/strong> by Dr. Daniel Amen.\u00a0 This book is written for anybody with a mental health diagnosis who is looking for ways to understand and control their illness outside of the dominant paradigm of a simple chemical imbalance that is controlled by medication(s).\u00a0 Dr. Amen runs a clinic that does brain scans on those with mental conditions, and has found several compelling connections of impaired brain activity with various diagnoses.\u00a0 He also points out that many DSM diagnoses are actually several different brain issues rolled into one category, which leads to incorrect treatments.\u00a0 He is a proponent of working to have a healthy brain, whatever the original condition of it is.\u00a0 To that end, he recommends various forms of out of the box solutions to control symptoms, everything from removing toxic mold to dietary changes to nutraceuticals and vitamins.\u00a0 This book is good for anybody looking for new solutions to treat their brain illnesses.<\/p>\n

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4) The Hilarious World of Depression<\/strong> by John Moe.\u00a0 John hosts a podcast on depression of the same name as the book, which I had never heard of prior to reading it, but am now intrigued.\u00a0 In his podcast, he interviews celebrities about their experiences with depression.\u00a0 In this book, he goes into his own experience with nearly lifelong depressive episodes.\u00a0 He has an amusing style of writing that anybody that has experienced depression can identify with.\u00a0 It is also a good primer for anybody who has not experienced depression but wants to know more about the experience of depression.\u00a0 He writes about deep subjects in a way that sucks you in, because he maintains his sense of humor throughout.\u00a0 Highly recommended for those looking for a different take on a, well, typically depressing subject.\u00a0 (Out May 5, 2020)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have read a slew of new and upcoming books recently dealing with psychology and addiction.\u00a0 Here are my favorites: 1) Quit Like A Woman by Holly Whitaker.\u00a0 This book is good for anybody who questions either their relationship with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":804,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799\/revisions\/804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}