ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY HUMANIST GALAXY OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS PETER WHYBROW December 9, 2021 AMERICAN MANIA: When more is not enough by Peter C. Whybrow. W.W. Norton, 2005 (i-xii, 338 pages) Quote = "Peter Whybrow diagnoses a form of clinical mania in which 'the dopamine reward systems of the brain are... hijacked' by pleasurable frenzies like the Internet bubble. Genes are to blame: people were programmed to crave material rewards on the austere savanna, and now they go bananas in an economy of superabundance. Americans are particularly susceptible because they are descended from immigrants with a higher frequency of the 'exploratory and novelty-seeking D4-7 allele' in the dopamine receptor system, which predisposes them to impulsivity and addiction. The malady is 'treatable,' Whybrow asserts, not with Paxil, but with a vaguely defined program of communitarianism and recovery therapeutics," (From Publishers Weekly Book Review) Quote = "The familiar indictment of American society offered here is that America's supercharged free-market capitalism shackles us to a treadmill of overwork and overconsumption, frays family and community ties and leaves us anxious, alienated and overweight. In addition, the book's theme is grouded in political economy which is idiosyncratic and compelling. He cites everyone from Adam Smith to Thorstein Veblen as well as referencing recent developments in the subjects of neuropsychiatry, primatology and genetics." (Paraphrased slightly by webmaster from Publishers Weekly Book Review) Quote = "In an attempt to 'accurately diagnose the frenzy that now grips America,' Whybrow, who is a psychiatrist and director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA, adopts a paradigm based on a psychiatric model of individual self-destruction. He argues that The United States is a nation peopled with individuals of a migrant,' competitive, aggressive, novel-seeking temperament. Combine this 'instinctual' behavioral pattern of the American workaholic with the reward structure of a contemporary hyperdriven, global, 24/7 capitalistic culture, and mania becomes normative. Stress, anxiety, obesity, and greed result." (Paraphrased slightly by webmaster from Choice Book Review) BOOK OUTLINE Note = Numbers in parentheses refer to pages TABLE OF CONTENTS WILL BE ONLINE VERY SOON AUTHOR NOTE, SUMMARY, AND BOOK DESCRIPTION SUMMARY = Despite an astonishing appetite for life, more and more Americans are feeling overworked and dissatisfied. In the world's most affluent nation, epidemic rates of stress, anxiety, depression, obesity, and time urgency are now grudgingly accepted as part of everyday existence — they signal the American Dream gone awry. Peter C. Whybrow, director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA, grounds the extraordinary achievements and excessive consumption of the American nation in an understanding of the biology of the brain's reward system — offering for the first time a comprehensive and physical explanation for the addictive mania of consumerism. The book presents a clear and novel vantage point from which to understand the most pressing social issues of our time, while offering an informed approach to refocusing our pursuit of happiness. EDITORIAL BOOK REVIEWS PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY REVIEW = The indictment of American society offered here is that America's supercharged free-market capitalism shackles us to a treadmill of overwork and overconsumption, frays family and community ties and leaves us anxious, alienated and overweight-is familiar. What's more idiosyncratic and compelling is the author's grounding his treatise in political economy (citing everyone from Adam Smith to Thorstein Veblen) as well as in neuropsychiatry, primatology and genetics. Psychiatrist Whybrow (Mood Apart) diagnoses a form of clinical mania in which "the dopamine reward systems of the brain are... hijacked" by pleasurable frenzies like the Internet bubble. Genes are to blame: programmed to crave material rewards on the austere savanna, they go bananas in an economy of superabundance. Americans are particularly susceptible because they are descended from immigrants with a higher frequency of the "exploratory and novelty-seeking D4-7 allele" in the dopamine receptor system, which predisposes them to impulsivity and addiction. The malady is "treatable," Whybrow asserts, not with Paxil but with a vaguely defined program of communitarianism and recovery therapeutics, exemplified by his friends Peanut, a farmer rooted in the land, and Tom, a formerly manic entrepreneur who has learned to live in the present moment. Whybrow's analysis of the contemporary rat race is acute, and by medicalizing the problem he locates it in behavior and genetics-away from the arena of conventional political and economic action where more systemic solutions might surface, but toward a place where individual responsibility can turn "self-interest into social fellowship." Agent, Zoe Pagnamenta. CHOICE REVIEW = In an attempt to "accurately diagnose the frenzy that now grips America," Whybrow, a psychiatrist and director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA, adopts a paradigm based on a psychiatric model of individual self-destruction. He argues that the US is a nation peopled with individuals of a "migrant," competitive, aggressive, novel-seeking temperament. Combine this "instinctual" behavioral pattern of the American workaholic with the reward structure of a contemporary hyperdriven, global, 24/7 capitalistic culture, and mania becomes normative. Stress, anxiety, obesity, and greed result. When commerce and consumerism trump relationships, the buffering effects of community, friends, and family no longer restrain insatiable desires. Whybrow offers no specific therapeutic path to recovery. In his analysis, the pleasure obtained from addiction to the work-spend cycle leads only to self-destruction, inequality, and lack of civic engagement. Happiness is found in the social support networks of neighbor, family, and friends. Community must be cultivated in this "Fast New World" if the United States is to be cured of its collective mania. Summing Up: Recommended. General collections and up. K. M. McKinley Cabrini College. REMEMBER ALWAYS: You Are Your Adaptable Memory! Click or Tap Star to Return to Humanist Hub RETURN TO THE HUMANIST HUB OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY produced by Infinite Interactive Ideas©