I'll Bet You Know a Few Almost Psychopaths!

Almost a Psychopath?

One of the things that I've been spending a lot of time working on this past year is a series of books on subclinical symptoms in mental and behavioral health. This series, called The Almost Effect is already changing the way a lot of people think about mental health. The idea is based in solid science and an understanding of how both physical and mental abnormalities occur on a spectrum--from nearly imperceptible to quite severe.

The first book, Almost Alcoholic, has been adopted by colleges and universities in peer to peer substance abuse training and many other programs. It has also been the topic of a lot of buzz on the internet with people wondering just how much alcohol is too much. (Answer: read the book!)

The second book, Almost a Psychopath, has been getting a lot of press with many of the reporters saying that they didn't realize just how many "almost psychopaths" they knew. (Hint: the number of subclinical psychopaths in the U.S. is approximately equal to the combined populations of Texas and New York!!). An easy way to consider whether you might be dealing with one is if you've been asking yourself, "What was THAT about?!"

In an interview with the authors, Emily Rooney of WGBH asked them some questions about the infamous Clark Rockefeller who is on trial for murder in California. The authors elegantly side stepped these questions (Consider: ethical issues are important if you are a physician who publishes a book--to see how these authors handled Rooney's questions, watch this TV clip of the Greater Boston).

This is an exciting new series of books, and definitively demonstrates why publishing is not dead. In fact, there are many doctors with incredible expertise and extremely important information to impart. If you are one of them, consider how your work and your message might be published as a book.