And, Oh Yes, They Will Be Mine -- 15 Vintage Phantom Paperbacks

Read it and weep: the Winner's Curse:

Lee Falk. Group of Fifteen First Printing Mass Market Phantom Paperbacks. Avon Books, 1972-75. Toning and mild rubbing; otherwise,Very Good or better. From the collection of first fan, Jack Cordes.

Autism Wiki: Of Narrow Interests



"Obsession? What obsession?"

A high school senior displays part of the comic book collection that inspired his study into superheroes and doomsday. Watchmen, seen up front and later released as a major motion picture, is one of the books he analyzed.



Children with Asperger syndrome often have an intense and obsessive level of focus on things of interest. Some have suggested that these "obsessions" are essentially arbitrary and lacking in any real meaning or context; however, researchers note that these "obsessions" typically focus on the mechanical (how things work) as opposed to the psychological (how people work).

Sometimes these interests are lifelong; in other cases, they change at unpredictable intervals. In either case, there are normally only one or two interests at any given time. The interests are often linked in some way that is logical only to the AS individual.

In pursuit of these interests, people with AS often manifest extremely sophisticated reasoning, an almost obsessive focus, and a remarkably good memory for trivial facts. Hans Asperger called his young patients "little professors" because he thought his patients had as comprehensive and nuanced an understanding of their field of interest as university professors.

People with AS may have little patience for things outside these narrow interests. In school, they may be perceived as highly intelligent underachievers or overachievers, clearly capable of outperforming their peers in their field of interest, yet persistently unmotivated to do regular homework assignments (sometimes even in their areas of interest). Others may be hypermotivated to outperform peers in school.

The combination of social problems and intense interests can lead to unusual behavior, such as greeting a stranger by launching into a lengthy monologue about a special interest rather than introducing oneself in the socially accepted way. However, in many cases adults can outgrow this impatience and lack of motivation and develop more tolerance to new activities and meeting new people.

Real Life Examples of Narrow Interests

Pets can become obsessions for the aspie child -- they are always around the house and do not talk or present a socially complex partner.

Certain dolls may become extremely close to the aspie child -- eg, one that looks like him/her or a Furby because it appears to interact with them, thus providing social interaction unachievable with other human children.

Computer games can become very addictive to the aspie child -- they provide visual stimulation minus the need for social interaction. In many cases, multiplayer games like Club
Penguin or Barbie.com or Stardoll, also provide a non-intimidating way to socialize "in world" while playing the game. See the Internet.

Magical things -- fairies, unicorns, etc. -- are also often an obsession.

Cards/Sports-Facts -- baseball or football cards and scoreboard information -- become a way to interact with people and their competitive instincts but not in an intimidating social way (no discussion required).

Strange things -- turtles, mushrooms, African dictators, the Holocaust, grafitti, ect. -- things like these may have been discovered early in an AS child's early childhood, and have since been an obsession to the AS child.

Asperger Syndrome and OCD

by Adrienne Warber

Asperger Syndrome and OCD are two different neurological disorders with some similarities. There is some confusion over the definition of the two disorders, especially since a person can have both Asperger's syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Asperger syndrome and OCD are both neurological disorders characterized by obsessive and repetitive behaviors.

Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger's Syndrome is one of five pervasive developmental disorders, along with Autism, that involve impairments in language, communication and social skills. A person with Aspergers may participate in obsessive and repetitive behaviors and gets upset if strict routines or complex rituals are interrupted.

Examples of obsessive behavior in AS are spinning objects, rocking back and forth or memorizing every detail of the US highway system map. Aspergers is often diagnosed in early childhood.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a neurological disorder that stems from anxiety. A person has obsessive thoughts and compulsions to participate in obsessive and repetitive behavior that can involve complex and unusual rituals. If he cannot participate in a ritual, he experiences great fear and discomfort.

Examples of OCD behaviors are excessive hand washing, repetitively checking locks, irrationally hoarding objects and counting rituals. The behavior generally centers on a specific anxiety. The behavior can get in the way of daily living, if untreated. OCD is generally diagnosed in late adolescence or adulthood.

Aspergers and OCD share the following similarities:

• Obsessive behaviors or obsessive interests
• Repetitive behaviors
• Self-stimulating behaviors or "stimming," such as hand flapping, twirling or head banging (However, some experts argue that similar behavior in OCD is not really stimming but instead a part of an OCD ritual.)
• Unusual rituals
• Strict routines
• Focus on unusual object or activity for hours, which can seem like an obsession
• Anxiety when a ritual or routine is interrupted and may make the rest of the day's activities difficult for him to participate in.
• Participating in the ritual or routine helps regulate behavior to some degree.

Differences Between Aspergers and OCD

There is a major difference in what compels a person with Aspergers or Autism to participate in obsessive behavior or repetitive rituals and the motivation of a person with OCD.

Anxiety is not the driving force behind repetitive behaviors, but it can alleviate feelings of anxiety. Just as someone may bite his nails when he is anxious, a person with AS may engage in repetitive behaviors.

He does not seem to care what others think of his behavior or feel bad or about any compulsions. When he gets upset over an interrupted ritual or routine, his frustration may stem from being deprived of a pleasurable activity, not a necessarily a fear of what will happen.

Obsessions in Aspergers and Autism are not always viewed as undesired behavior. Parents and therapists may even create learning situations that utilize an obsession with a favorite topic to help a child with AS learn new things.

For example, a child who is obsessed with trains may respond better to any new activity or idea that includes his favorite subject. A person with Aspergers who is obsessed with computer code may turn his obsession into a computer career.

A person with OCD is generally driven to the obsessive behavior by anxiety and a fear that something bad will happen if he does not complete the repetitive ritual. He often feels ashamed of the compulsive behavior and worries what others think about it.

Can a Person Have Both Aspergers and OCD?

A person can be diagnosed with both Asperger Syndrome and OCD. In fact, it is common for a person with AS or autism to also have an additional neurological or behavioral disorder. One way to recognize the difference between the obsessive and stimming behavior of Aspergers versus OCD behavior is whether the behavior is driven by great anxiety.

Generally, doctors can diagnosis both conditions, if present, during the initial autism screening.

However, if anyone suspects a loved one with Aspergers has developed OCD and remain undiagnosed, seek diagnosis and treatment immediately. Call the loved one's doctor or a local autism support organization for assistance and doctor recommendations.

Conclusion

Aspergers and OCD share many similarities but have significant differences. It is important for anyone suspecting Aspergers or OCD to seek a diagnosis. Left untreated, the two conditions can make social interaction difficult. Many modern medical options can treat both conditions and lessen any undesired symptoms. The right treatment plan can help an affected individual to live a fulfilling and productive life.

For more information on Asperger's syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder, visit the Online Aspergers Information and Support (OASIS) website for Aspergers information and the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation (OCF) website for details on OCD. .

My Obsessive Reading

I have an "indexing gene." I love checklists and reference data. I used to catalogue the creative credits for my favorite comic books, in pencil, on 3" x 5" index cards, during the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous dogsled races televised in the mid-seventies. I thought it was fun. Like most collectors, I would also make ultra-detailed "want lists" of missing, desired issues, and reading lists of favorite authors.

For a time in the nineties, I joined legendary comic fan Jerry Bails' indexing apa (amateur press association), apa-i. I 've contributed to the online Grand Comic Book Database., Askart, and other databases -- the ultimate versions of my old catalog card system.

These days, when I finish a nonfiction book, I write down the title and author(s) in a notebook. Sometimes I forget, but usually I record the books soon after reading. In true OCD fashion, I have to actually finish a book in order to record it. Partially finished books don't count. Believe it or not, just seeing the title/author information again helps me recall much of what I've read.

I originally read popular science and math books for the nonfiction genre, but after the 2008 financial crisis meltdown, I realized I knew nothing of business, and went on a business, economics, and investing book jag. Then in 2010, I shifted gears again to the current trend of mainly psychology and neuroscience reads. The "Behavioral Economics" business books made a nice bridge to these psychology books. I think my "psychology phase" is winding down now. What's next? Probably learning theory.

For "extra credit," I have typed out my list of my obsessesive fact-based reading conquests. You might enjoy reading a few of them yourself, so I have roughly categorized them. Frankly, after typing out this list, I'm a bit blown away at how much material I've consumed so far, and this doesn't even count all the comics, art books, magazines, and crime novels. I'm sure I've also missed a few books that I forgot to record. Here's the list, alphabetized by author.

Biography/Memoir/Military/Pop Culture

The Wire: Truth Be Told - Rafael Alvarez and David Simon

Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest - Stephen E. Ambrose

Citizen Soldiers: The U. S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany - Stephen E. Ambrose 

D Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II - Stephen E. Ambrose

The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45 - Stephen E. Ambrose

Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness - Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele

Under Cover: An Illustrated History of American Mass-Market Paperback - Thomas L. Bonn ; Foreword by John Tebbel

Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs

Running with Scissors: A Memoir - Augusten Burroughs

The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 1) - Robert A. Caro

Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson) - Robert A. Caro

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York - Robert A. Caro

From Birdland to Broadway: Scenes from a Jazz Life - Bill Crow

Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller - Burke Davis

Miles: The Autobiography - Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe

Django Reinhardt - Charles Delaunay

I Feel Bad About My Neck - Nora Ephron
Rod Serling: The Dreams and Nightmares of Life in the Twilight Zone/a Biography - Joel Engel

Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius of Jazz Guitar - Sharony Andrews Green  

Searching for Robert Johnson: The Life and Legend of the "King of the Delta Blues Singers" - Peter Guralnick

Summer of '49 - David Halberstam

The Fifties - David Halberstam  

Howard Hughes: The Secret Life - Charles Higham

The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World - A. J. Jacobs

Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece - Ashley Kahn

Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum - James Lester

Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs - A Parody by Fake Steve Jobs (Daniel Lyons)

The Terrible Hours: The Greatest Submarine Rescue in History - Peter Maas 

Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia - Peter Maas

Stan Getz: A Life in Jazz - Donald L. Maggin

Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War - William Manchester

Jim Thompson: Sleep with the Devil - Michael J. McCauley

Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker - James McManus

Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die - Francis M. Nevins

Hardboiled America: Lurid Years of Paperbacks - Geoffrey O'Brien

Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta - Robert Palmer

Dance of the Infidels: A Portrait of Bud Powell - Francis Paudras 

Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper - Art Pepper and Laurie Pepper

Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings - Peter Pettinger

Goodfellas - Nicholas Pileggi  

Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson - Robert Polito

Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet - Lewis B. Puller Jr.

Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton - Howard Reich and William M. Gaines

The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes 

A Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II - Cornelius Ryan 

The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day - Cornelius Ryan

Serling: The Rise and Twilight of Television's Last Angry Man - Gordon F. Sander

In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash - Jean Shepherd

Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters - Jean Shepherd    

Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage - Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew

Between Covers: The Rise and Transformation of Book Publishing in America - John William Tebbel   

Off the Wall (David Berkowitz) - Charles Willeford

Something About a Soldier - Charles Willeford

Business/Economics/Finance/ Investment

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More - Chris Anderson

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - Dan Ariely

The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home - Dan Ariely

Corporate Cults: The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming Organization - Dave Arnott

Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way To Be Smart - Ian Ayres

The Numerati - Stephen Baker

The Secret History of the South Sea Bubble: The World's First Great Financial Scandal - Malcolm Balen

The Cartoon Introduction to Economics: Volume One: Microeconomics - Yoram Bauman and Grady Klein 

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them: Lessons from the Life-Changing Science of Behavioral Economics - Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk - Peter L. Bernstein

Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street - Peter L. Bernstein 

The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio - William Bernstein

The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk - William J. Bernstein

The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between - William J. Bernstein

A Demon of Our Own Design: Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation - Richard M. Bookstaber

The Poker Face of Wall Street - Aaron Brown

Frozen Desire: Meaning of Money - James Buchan

Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food Taming Our Primal Instincts - Terry Burnham and Jay Phelan

Mean Markets and Lizard Brains: How to Profit from the New Science of Irrationality - Terry Burnham

The Whiz Kids: The Founding Fathers of American Business and the Legacy They Left Us - John A. Byrne

How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities - John Cassidy

25 Myths You've Got to Avoid If You Want to Manage Your Money Right: The New Rules for Financial Success - Jonathan Clements

You've Lost It, Now What? How to Beat the Bear Market and Still Retire on Time - Jonathan Clements

The Perfect Store: Inside eBay - Adam Cohen

Extreme Money: Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk - Satyajit Das

Inventing Money: The Story of Long-Term Capital Management and the Legends Behind It - Nicholas Dunbar   

The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing: A Book for Procrastinators, the Financially Challenged, and Everyone Who Worries About Dealing with Their Money - Paul B. Farrell

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World - Niall Ferguson

The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street - Justin Fox

One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism, and the End of Economic Democracy - Thomas Frank

Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went - John Kenneth Galbraith

The Age of Uncertainty - John Kenneth Galbraith

The Great Mutual Fund Trap: An Investment Recovery Plan - Gregory Baer and Gary Gensler

The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream - Jacob S. Hacker

The Reckoning - David Halberstam  

Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line - Ben Hamper

The Undercover Economist - Tim Harford

The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers - Robert L. Heilbroner

The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Enigma of Efficiency - Robert Kanigel

Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World - Steve Kemper

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis

Moneyball - Michael Lewis

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine - Michael Lewis

The Blind Side - Michael Lewis

Origins of the Crash: The Great Bubble and Its Undoing - Roger Lowenstein

When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management - Roger Lowenstein

Bull: A History of the Boom and Bust, 1982-2004 - Maggie Mahar

No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller - Harry Markopolos

More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places - Michael J. Mauboussin 

The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash - Charles R. Morris

Die Broke: A Radical Four-Part Financial Plan - Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine

The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It - Scott Patterson

Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism - Kevin P. Phillips

Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street - William Poundstone

Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It) - William Poundstone

Winning the Cash Flow War: Your Ultimate Survival Guide to Making Money and Keeping It - Fred Rewey

The Madoff Chronicles: Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth - Brian Ross

Company Man: The Rise and Fall of Corporate Life - Anthony Sampson

The Mind of the Market - Michael Shermer

Irrational Exuberance - Robert J. Shiller

Crashproof Your Life : A Comprehensive, Three-Part Plan for Protecting Yourself from Financial Disasters - Thomas A. Schweich

Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods -- and How Companies Create Them - Michael J. Silverstein, Neil Fiske and John Butman

The Smartest 401(k) Book You'll Ever Read: Maximize Your Retirement Savings...the Smart Way! - Daniel R. Solin

The Smartest 401(k) Book You'll Ever Read: Maximize Your Retirement Savings...the Smart Way! - Daniel R. Solin

The Smartest Retirement Book You'll Ever Read - Daniel R. Solin

The Wisdom of Crowds - James Surowiecki

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness - Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life - Richard H. Thaler

The History of Money - Jack Weatherford

What Goes Up: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street as Told by the Bankers, Brokers, CEOs, and Scoundrels Who Made It Happen - Eric J. Weiner

Wall Street Versus America: A Muckraking Look at the Thieves, Fakers, and Charlatans Who Are Ripping You Off - Gary Weiss

Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science - Charles Wheelan and Burton G. Malkiel

The Judas Economy: The Triumph of Capital and the Betrayal of Work - William Wolman and Anne Colamosca

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power - Daniel Yergin  

Diet/Health/Medicine/Neuroscience /Psychology/Self-Help

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness - Daniel G. Amen

Healing Anxiety and Depression - Daniel G. Amen and Lisa C. Routh

10 Simple Solutions to Panic: How to Overcome Panic Attacks, Calm Physical Symptoms, and Reclaim Your Life (The New Harbinger Ten Simple Solutions Series) - Martin M. Antony and Randi E. McCabe

Prozac and the New Antidepressants: What You Need Know About Prozac Zoloft Paxil Luvox Wellbutrin Effexor Serzone Vestra Celexa St. John's Wart and Others - William S. Appleton M. D.

Art and Visual Perception - Rudolf Arnheim

NeanderThin: Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body - Ray Audette

The Imp of the Mind: Exploring the Silent Epidemic of Obsessive Bad Thoughts - Lee Baer  

Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial - Alison Bass

Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves - Sharon Begley

When in Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty - Jeff Bell

Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment - Tal Ben-Shahar

Coping with Anxiety: 10 Simple Ways to Relieve Anxiety, Fear and Worry - Edmund J. Bourne and Lorna Garanao

The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook - Edmund J. Bourne

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior - Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman

Getting Past OK: The Self-Help Book for People Who Dont Need Help - Richard Brodie

Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme - Richard Brodie

Feeling Good - The New Mood Therapy - David D. Burns

When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life - David D. Burns

Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance - Jack Challem, Burton Berkson and Melissa Diane Smith

On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not - Robert Burton

Overcoming Obsessive Thoughts: How to Gain Control of Your OCD - David A. Clark and Christine Purdon  

Nerve: Poise Under Pressure, Serenity Under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool - Taylor Clark

The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat - Loren Cordain

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain - Antonio R. Damasio

IBS For Dummies - Carolyn Dean and L. Christine Wheeler

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science - Norman Doidge

Coping with OCD: Practical Strategies for Living Well with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Troy DuFrene and Bruce Hyman

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder For Dummies - Charles H. Elliott Ph.D. and Laura L. Smith Ph.D.

Overcoming Anxiety For Dummies - Charles H. Elliott Ph.D. and Laura L. Smith Ph.D.

Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life - Paul Ekman

Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage - Paul Ekman

Thanks: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier - Robert Emmons

Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside - Katrina Firlik

Stop Obsessing!: How to Overcome Your Obsessions and Compulsions - Edna B. Foa and Reid Wilson 

The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety: A Guide to Breaking Free from Anxiety, Phobias, and Worry Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - John P. Forsyth and Georg H. Eifert

Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the 3 to 1 Ratio That Will Change Your Life - Barbara Fredrickson

Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Todd Gilbert

The Sense of Order: A Study in the Psychology of Decorative Art (The Wrightsman Lectures, V. 9) - E. H. Gombrich

Freedom from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Personalized Recovery Program for Living with Uncertainty - Jonathan Grayson

Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease - Gary Greenberg

Insomniac – Gayle Greene

The Intelligent Eye - Richard L. Gregory

Mirrors in Mind - Richard L. Gregory

Odd Perceptions – Richard L. Gregory

Why We Make Mistakes: How We Look Without Seeing, Forget Things in Seconds, and Are All Pretty Sure We Are Way Above Average - Joseph T. Hallinan

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die - Chip Heath and Dan Heath

On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind's Hard-Wired Habits - Wray Herbert

Sleep Disorders For Dummies - Max Hirshkowitz, Patricia B. Smith and William C. Dement

Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life - Steven Johnson

Sleep Apnea - The Phantom of the Night: Overcome Sleep Apnea Syndrome and Snoring - T. Scott Johnson, William A. Broughton, Jerry Halberstadt and B. Gail Demko

Man and His Symbols - Carl Gustav Jung

Apprentice to Genius: The Making of a Scientific Dynasty (neuroscience and neuropharmacology)  - Robert Kanigel

Who Switched Off My Brain? Revised: Controlling Toxic Thoughts and Emotions - Caroline Leaf Ph.D.

The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life - Joseph LeDoux

Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are - Joseph LeDoux

How We Decide - Jonah Lehrer 

Proust Was a Neuroscientist - Jonah Lehrer

The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God - David J. Linden

The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good - David J. Linden

Of Two Minds: The Growing Disorder in American Psychiatry - T. M. Luhrmann

The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want - Sonja Lyubomirsky

101 Theory Drive: A Neuroscientist's Quest for Memory (Gary Lynch) - Terry McDermott

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School - John Medina

The Society of Mind - Marvin Minsky

Psychology Today: Taming Bipolar Disorder (Psychology Today Here to Help) - Lori Oliwenstein

The Cult of Personality Testing: How Personality Tests Are Leading Us to Miseducate Our Children, Mismanage Our Companies, and Misunderstand Ourselves - Annie Murphy Paul

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: A Complete Guide to Getting Well and Staying Well - Fred Penzel

Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control - Christopher Peterson, Steven F. Maier and Martin E. P. Seligman

The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing: The Experience and Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Judith L. Rapoport

Shadow Syndromes: The Mild Forms of Major Mental Disorders That Sabotage Us - John J. Ratey M. D. and Catherine Johnson Ph.D.

Be Different: My Adventures with Asperger's and My Advice for Fellow Aspergians, Misfits, Families, and Teachers - John Elder Robison

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's - John Elder Robison

Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment - Martin E. P. Seligman

Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being - Martin E. P. Seligman   

Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life - Martin E. P. Seligman

What You Can Change and What You Can't: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement - Martin E. P. Seligman

Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior - Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Beverly Beyette

The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force - Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Sharon Begley

Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are - Sebastian Seung

Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life - Allen Shawn 

The Other Side of Normal: How Biology Is Providing the Clues to Unlock the Secrets of Normal and Abnormal Behavior - Jordan W. Smoller

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things - Gail Steketee 

The Impulse Factor: An Innovative Approach to Better Decision Making - Nick Tasler

Overcoming Health Anxiety - David Veale

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America - Robert Whitaker   

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies - Rob Willson and Rhena Branch

Don't Panic: Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks - Reid Wilson

Math:

A Tour of the Calculus - David Berlinski

Newton's Gift: How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World - David Berlinski 

The Advent of the Algorithm: The Idea that Rules the World - David Berlinski

First You Build a Cloud: And Other Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life – K. C. Cole

Mind Over Matter: Conversations with the Cosmos – K. C. Cole

The Universe and the Tea Cup: The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty – K. C. Cole

Archimedes' Revenge: The Joys and Perils of Mathematics - Paul Hoffman

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth - Paul Hoffman

The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan - Robert Kanigel

The Fractal Geometry of Nature - Benoit Mandelbrot

A Beautiful Mind (John Nash) - Sylvia Nasar

A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper - John Allen Paulos

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences - John Allen Paulos

Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem - Simon Singh and John Lynch

Science:

Bursts: The Hidden Patterns Behind Everything We Do, from Your E-mail to Bloody Crusades - Albert-Laszlo Barabasi

Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means - Albert-László Barabási

Forward Through the Rearview Mirror: Reflections on and by Marshall McLuhan - Paul Benedetti and Nancy DeHart 

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer - Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin 

Turbulent Mirror: An Illustrated Guide to Chaos Theory and the Science of Wholeness - John Briggs  

Ubiquity: Why Catastrophes Happen - Mark Buchanan

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins

The Meaning of it All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist - Richard P Feynman

What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character - Richard P. Feynman 

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference - Malcolm Gladwell

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures - Malcolm Gladwell

Chaos: Making a New Science - James Gleick

Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything - James Gleick

Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman – James Gleick

The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood - James Gleick

What Just Happened: A Chronicle from the Information Frontier - James Gleick

Alan Turing: The Enigma - Andrew Hodges and Douglas Hofstadter

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software - Steven Johnson

Chances Are . . .: Adventures in Probability - Michael Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan

Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the Economic World - Kevin Kelly

Naked To The Bone: Medical Imaging In The Twentieth Century - Bettyann Kevles

John Von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More - Norman Macrae

The Gutenberg Galaxy - Marshall McLuhan 

The Medium is the Massage - Marshall McLuhan, Quentin Fiore and Shepard Fairey

Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life - Leonard Mlodinow 

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives - Leonard Mlodinow 

What the Numbers Say: A Field Guide to Mastering Our Numerical World - Derrick Niederman and David Boyum

Universal Foam: Exploring the Science of Nature's Most Mysterious Substance - Sidney Perkowitz

Labyrinths of Reason: Paradox, Puzzles, and the Frailty of Knowledge - William Poundstone

The Prisoner's Dilemma - William Poundstone

The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century - David Salsburg

Fringes of Reason (Whole Earth) - Ted Schultz

Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences – Edward Tenner

Philosophy/ Sociology

Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream - Barbara Ehrenreich

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America - Barbara Ehrenreich

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements - Eric Hoffer

The Age of Alienation - Bernard Murchland

On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not

I've mentioned before that the feeling of uncertainty is a trigger for those with OCD. I discovered Robert A. Burton, M. D.'s book on the flip side of the uncertainty sensation, On Being Certain.

From Amazon, "On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not by
Robert Burton

You recognize when you know something for certain, right? You "know" the sky is blue, or that the traffic light had turned green, or where you were on the morning of September 11, 2001--you know these things, well, because you just do.

In On Being Certain, neurologist Robert Burton challenges the notions of how we think about what we know. He shows that the feeling of certainty we have when we "know" something comes from sources beyond our control and knowledge. In fact, certainty is a mental sensation, rather than evidence of fact. Because this "feeling of knowing" seems like confirmation of knowledge, we tend to think of it as a product of reason.

But an increasing body of evidence suggests that feelings such as certainty stem from primitive areas of the brain, and are independent of active, conscious reflection and reasoning. The feeling of knowing happens to us; we cannot make it happen.

Bringing together cutting edge neuroscience, experimental data, and fascinating anecdotes, Robert Burton explores the inconsistent and sometimes paradoxical relationship between our thoughts and what we actually know. Provocative and groundbreaking, On Being Certain, will challenge what you know (or think you know) about the mind, knowledge, and reason.

The Know-It-All

Here's an uproarious book I identified with (perhaps a little too much), A. J. Jacobs' The Know-It-All.

33,000 Pages

 
44 Million words   

10 Billion years of history  

One Obsessed man   

Part memoir and part education (or lack thereof), The Know-It-All chronicles NPR contributor A.J. Jacobs's hilarious, enlightening, and seemingly impossible quest to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica from A to Z.   To fill the ever-widening gaps in his Ivy League education, A.J. Jacobs sets for himself the daunting task of reading all thirty-two volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His wife, Julie, tells him it's a waste of time, his friends believe he is losing his mind, and his father, a brilliant attorney who had once attempted the same feat and quit somewhere around Borneo, is encouraging but unconvinced.   With self-deprecating wit and a disarming frankness, The Know-It-All recounts the unexpected and comically disruptive effects Operation Encyclopedia has on every part of Jacobs's life -- from his newly minted marriage to his complicated relationship with his father and the rest of his charmingly eccentric New York family to his day job as an editor at Esquire. Jacobs's project tests the outer limits of his stamina and forces him to explore the real meaning of intelligence as he endeavors to join Mensa, win a spot on Jeopardy!, and absorb 33,000 pages of learning. On his journey he stumbles upon some of the strangest, funniest, and most profound facts about every topic under the sun, all while battling fatigue, ridicule, and the paralyzing fear that attends his first real-life responsibility -- the impending birth of his first child.

The Know-It-All is an ingenious, mightily entertaining memoir of one man's intellect, neuroses, and obsessions, and a struggle between the all-consuming quest for factual knowledge and the undeniable gift of hard-won wisdom.

Putting it All Together; What I've Learned About Anxiety So Far

What sparked this obsessive reading of mine? It probably started with all the comic books I collected as a kid. I read, created, and dreamt of comic stories and cartoonists, 24/7. Our house was filled with science books and magazines. I grew up in a world of art, writing, science, and ideas, since dad was a geologist/landscape artist and mom is a journalist/writer/editor.

Whenever I encounter a topic of interest, I begin an in-depth research and learn all I can, from as many sources as I can. I have a quasi-Aspergian drive to find patterns, underlying order, and solve problems. My OCD tendencies for certainty, control, and completeness fuel my "need to know" and explore. This has presented problems at times. I have to be wary of taking an alarming concept too seriously ("over-valued ideation") without considering that the information may be over-simplified, incomplete, or just wrong. Sometimes, I have to give "health anxiety" topics in particular a rest, by switching to another genre, like crime novels or science books. Balance is called for.

Few topics are as emotionally charged as my senses-shattering struggle with anxiety, which came to a head with a two-week hospitalization in the fall of 2010. I wanted to know how and why this traumatic meltdown happened. In the depths of my despair I resolved to do everything I could to heal, and then get to the bottom of this irrational, self-inflicted suffering. I began by reading everything I could about panic attacks, anxiety, and depression. I never considered that I had OCD per se. The professionals spotted that, and it's a perfect example of how you can't diagnose yourself.

During my hospitalization I learned first-hand about other mental disorders from my fellow patients. Bipolar depression, suicide ideation, eating disorders, cutting, and schizophrenia were common problems. Of course, everyone also had a baseline of anxiety, depression, sleeping problems, addiction, dysfunctional families, job burnout, and in many cases, socio-economic hardships to deal with, as well.

Some of the most insightful and helpful information I've uncovered has come from unexpected sources, not just self-help books or psychology texts. I learned a lot about uncertainty, decision-making, creative thinking, and cognitive hiercharies from popular memoirs, art, investment, and science books.

Here's some of what I've learned.

Many of the anxiety and mood disorders are likely statistical outliers of normal brain functioning. Specifically, the fear mechanisms that evolved for species survival are in overdrive in anxiety disorders.

Chronic stress elevates stress hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine which, unmitigated, damage your neural connections, cause insomnia, wreak havoc on general health, and intensify overall jitteriness. Chronic insomnia can worsen a wicked feedback loop of more stress hormones, panic, depression, and anxiety. Insomnia should be treated as soon as possible. Sleep medications should be used very judiciously, and if possible, after a time, try to wean yourself off them. Make sure you don't have obstructive sleep apnea or another underlying sleep disorder.

In the case of "comorbid" anxiety and depression, most experts feel the depression should be treated first. SSRIs will treat both anxiety and depression, but it takes a while, and you have to find the right combination and titrate the dosage by trial and error, often feeling like a guinea pig in the process. Oink. Oink.

Anyone who is suicidal should head directly to the Emergency Room "without passing Go," as they say in Monopoly. Feelings of helplessness and desperation are temporary, and you don't want to injure or kill yourself in a rash moment, and leave your family and friends behind, facing "survivor's guilt." Please reach out for help. Every time.

There are countless forms of anxiety -- panic attacks, OCD, social phobia, hypochondria, body dysmorphic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, anorexia, agoraphobia, hoarding, eating disoders, cutting, and so on. Don't rely on medication alone to solve your problems. Get cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure and response prevention training from a psychologist, trained in anxiety disorders.

Avoidance is the worst strategy for anxiety as it causes the problem to grow.

Reading special scripts can help you to expose yourself to your fears and uncertainty.

Work on recognizing and accepting uncertainty in all its forms.

Don't let your fear prevent you from enjoying the positive things in life. Accept any uncomfortable feelings you might experience and make yourself do the things anyway. A psychologist can help you with this.

Join a support group so you don't feel alone, and can pick up tips from other peer/consumers.

For heavy-duty problems get both a psychiatrist and a psychologist; they should complement each other. At the very least, get a CBT psychologist.

Remember fear and anxiety are key "marketing tools" exploited by the media, the government, politicians, financial advisors, talk-show hosts, businesses, and others to suck in your attention and push their agendas. Try to limit your eposure to these unneeded sources of "background anxiety" which are omnipresent in modern "connected' society. Living with uncertainty, that's the key.

I'm a big fan of "commercial-free" entertainment like books, CDs, and DVDs. "Unplug" at night.

OCD and panic are biological in basis. The brain is a network of dynamic, ever-changing systems. The limbic system has neural circuits that provide "fast" emotional inputs to the "slow" and higher-thinking cortex. The feedback between these systems is asymmetrical with the lymbic system the more dominant of the two. That's why it's hard to overide our emotions with logic. By being exposed to phobias, or any "conditioned responses," the mind learns gradually to "overwrite" fear triggers and "desensitize," but the triggers are so strongly encoded, they can't be completely erased, only subdued, and a relapse is possible. Expect these lapses and relapses.

In OCD, the brain's biological method of "automatically shifting" away from ruminating thoughts/obesesions is stuck in a brain network/circuit malfunction or "brain lock." SSRIs help the mind override these sticky obsessions, but you can also learn to "manually shift" mental focus away from the obsessions by using Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz's 4-step neuroplastic method. It takes a lot of practice and work, but it should be done. "Neurons that fire together, wire together" (Hebbian learning), and "Neurons that fire apart, wire apart."

How SSRI medications work isn't completely understood. Some think the original "chemical imbalance" or "soup" theory is oversimplified. It's possible that the drug may facilitate "neurogenesis" or the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, and this allows for "neuroplasticity" or new synaptic connections to form. This "neural path rewiring" would help explain why SSRIs can take up to six weeks to have a theraputic effect even though they raise seratonin levels within hours.

Even though we don't know precisely how they work, SSRIs have a similar rate of effectiveness as CBT. Using both together is thus optimal. Bear in mind the SSRIs seem to be more effective for OCD than depression, even though they're more widely marketed as antidepressants.

Benzodiazepines are effective for anxiety immediately, but they carry potentially serious risks of tolerance, addiction, memory loss, and dependence. Use them with caution, only as prescribed. I've tried to avoid them entirely as my own treatment has progressed. Try to rely on CBT to deal with most of your feelings of anxiety instead of drugs.

The joy of learning has been a great boon for me. Just as stress can damage neurons, learning can heal and grow synaptic connections. Learning anything at all is therapeutic. Hobbies, games, crafts, art, writing, or even reading fiction. Anything that engages your attention, interest, and keeps your mind active. Learning delivers a shot of dopamine from the "pleasure centers" of your brain.

I believe information/biology networks will be the future of medicine. The brain is a complex network, as are our genome, hormonal system, and cell biology. Then there's epigentics-- wherein the environment affects how and if our genes are expressed. Diet, social interaction, and exercise are all important to mood. More networks, complexity, and feedback systems, all piled atop each other. God knows how long it will take to map and understand all these interconnected networks, the web of life. Every experience changes our unique brains -- this is the "connectome" or neuroplasticty. Use the knowledge that this gift exists to gather hope, change your thought patterns, and heal yourself.

I'm currently interested in exploring overall health, especially in the areas of stress,  diet and supplementation. Corrections in any deficits in these areas will likely help mimimize disease. That makes perfect sense to me. This is the concept of functional medicine. Knowledge and understanding of the mere fact of epigentics can help motivate us to take better care of ourselves and others. Traditional, mainstream "Western medicine" needs to be overhauled with functional medicine. This is a major paradigm and economic shift and will take time. There will be resistance. Self-educate yourself in the meantime as much as possible.

Diet: The Paleolithic/Mediterranean/Zone diet recommendations

Eat mostly low-carb, low glycemic, complex carbs -- vegetables and fruits.
Avoid refined foods, red meat, and sugar.
Eat smaller portions of lean protein -- chicken and turkey.
Eat good only good fats/oils -- olive oil, and flaxseed oil.
Avoid gluten and dairy
Take Omega  RX EPA/DHA concentrate supplements (fish oil).
Take a multivitamin
Use coffee and caffeine sparingly (yum ...coffee, and no... no...muffins)

Supplements - a topic to eplore:

Other viatmin and herbal supplements: I'm researching this now. There are a lot of pitfalls and expenses. Check my future posts as I try to learn more.

Excercise and Stress recommendations:

Exercise, especially walking, in nature, if possible.
Movement is key. Don't sit around too much. excercise helps your brain as well as your body
Expose yourself to light in the morning to help set your circadian rhythms. Use an eyeshade at night to block out ambient light from outside.
Be aware chronic stress is dangeous -- try to avoid it as much as possible
Reduce stress with meditation.
Get in the "flow" of pleasurable activities
Start a "gratitude journal"
Express bottled-up or painful feelings through a series of written letters (you don't have to send them)
Build social networks and meet new people
Practice the progressive relaxation excercise twice a day
Try self-hypnosis and guided imagery to relax
Use "grounding techniques" in emotional confrontations
Practice deep breathing techniques
Do body stretches
Herbal supplements (needs more research from me)

Now get out there and enjoy art, literature, movies, food, comics, humor, people, pets, nature, and most of all -- yourself.