Audiobooks Narrated by Richard Restak, M.D.

Poe's Heart and the Mountain Climber: Exploring the Effect of Anxiety on Our Brains and Our Culture

Are you bombarded by a constant media feed of global terrorism, war, and rising unemployment rates-and by a mind-numbing array of ads that urge you to "ask your doctor" about the newest anti-anxiety medications? If it sometimes feels as if this country is having a collective anxiety attack, then you won't be surprised to learn that more than 19 million Americans suffer from some form of acute anxiety. Poe's Heart and the Mountain Climber tackles this situation head-on, with a fresh perspective and a straightforward approach to exploring and understanding our anxiety before it paralyzes us. After interviewing many experts on anxiety, and reflecting on his own many years treating anxious patients (as well as experiencing more than a few anxious moments himself), Dr. Richard Restak has organized this book around one primary principal: the best way to manage anxiety in these anxious times is to learn about it and put that learning to practical use. His message is vital and empowering: anxiety is not a mental illness that must require medication, but often a normal, biological response to stress. Anxiety is part of our genetic makeup. We wouldn't be alive today if our ancestors had lacked the ability to anticipate dangers and threats. Anxiety is as natural a part of our existence as breathing, eating, or sleeping, and it is closely linked to our powers of reasoning. Unlike any other species, only we are able to envision future possibilities. As a result, we aren't tethered to the here and now, but can imaginatively anticipate the good things that might happen to us. But we can also envision the bad things and, as a result, experience anxiety. We can't have one without the other. Anxiety, therefore, isn't something to be eliminated but, rather, something to be understood. Anxiety is only undesirable when it becomes extreme. This groundbreaking book teaches us to view anxiety not as a burden, but as a stimulus for greater accomplishment and enhanced self-knowledge. We will function at our best when we stop working to deny our anxiety or trying to escape it and instead learn to accept its presence in our lives and transform it into the positive, creative energy from which it stems.

M.D. Richard Restak, Richard Restak, M.D. (Author), M.D. Richard Restak, Richard Restak, M.D. (Narrator)

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Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain's Potential

In Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot, eminent neuropsychiatrist and bestselling author Richard Restak, M.D., combines the latest research in neurology and psychology to show us how to get our brain up to speed for managing every aspect of our busy lives. Everything we think and everything we choose to do alters our brain and fundamentally changes who we are, a process that continues until the end of our lives. Few people think of the brain as being susceptible to change in its actual structure, but in fact we can preselect the kind of brain we will have by continually exposing ourselves to rich and varied life experiences. Unlike other organs that eventually wear out with repeated and sustained use, the brain actually improves the more we challenge it. Most of us incorporate some kind of physical exercise into our daily lives. We do this to improve our bodies and health and generally make us feel better. Why not do the same for the brain? The more we exercise it, the better it performs and the better we feel. Think of Restak as a personal trainer for your brain, he will help you assess your mental strengths and weaknesses, and his entertaining book will set you to thinking about the world and the people around you in a new light, providing you with improved and varied skills and capabilities. From interacting with colleagues to recognizing your own psychological makeup, from understanding the way you see something to why you're looking at it in the first place, from explaining the cause of panic attacks to warding off performance anxiety, this book will tell you the whys and hows of the brain's workings. Packed with practical advice and fascinating examples drawn from history, literature, and science, Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot provides twenty-eight informative and realistic steps that we can all take to improve our brainpower. From the Hardcover edition.

M.D. Richard Restak, Richard Restak, M.D. (Author), M.D. Richard Restak, Richard Restak, M.D. (Narrator)

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