Table of Contents
Foreword Allen Frances xi
A Note to Readers xvii
Introduction xix
1 There Is No Such Thing as ADHD 1
The DSM and a Culture of Disorder
Medication Goes in Search of Patients
Why Schools and Parents Seek Diagnosis
Not All Distress or Difference Is Mental Disorder
The DSM Is Fallible
Too Common to Be a Disorder
There Is No Proof of Disorder
If Not Disorder, Then What?
2 What Is Intensity? 25
Kazimierz Dabrowski Identifies "Super-Stimulatability"
The Five Intensities
Intensity: Gift or Disorder?
3 Practice Foundations 43
The Body as the Subconscious Mind
The Gatekeeper Between the Subconscious and Conscious Minds
The Internal Map of Reality
Everything Is Related to Everything
The Drug to End All Drugs
The Witness
4 Sensual Intensity 61
The Intense Senses
How Sensual Intensity Affects Us
5 Sensual Practices: Make Me Safe and Warm 71
Practice 1: Protecting Your Sensually Intense Self
Practice 2: Creating a Safe and Hospitable World
6 Psychomotor Intensity 81
You Are an Open Energy System
Psychomotor Effects on the Physical Domain
Psychomotor Effects on the Emotional Domain
Psychomotor Effects on the Mental Domain
Being in the Flow
7 Psychomotor Practices: It's My Energy, Dammit! 95
Practice 3: Walk a Mile in My Shoes
Practice 4: Being Still and Creating Flow
Practice 5: Exercise and Body Dispositions
8 Intellectual Intensity 103
Different Brains
Intellectual Intensity and Intelligence
Learning and Thinking Patterns
Key Traits of Intellectual Intensity
Challenges of Intellectual Intensity
Intensity and Value Systems
Value Levels of Development
9 Intellectual Practices: Building Intellectual Muscle 125
Practice 6: The Magic Word
Practice 7: Concentration on a Subject
Practice 8: The Lost Art of Contemplation
Practice 9: Value Development and Growth
A Note on the Practices So Far
10 Creative Intensity 135
Imagination
Overactive Imagination
Inspiration
Creativity as Therapy
Thought as the Ultimate Creative Medium
Creating Meaning, Purpose, and Ideals
Dreaming Too Much
11 Creative Practices: Becoming a Creator 151
Practice 10: Taming the Imagination Creature
Practice 11: Living Backward and Forward in Time
Practice 12: Seducing the Muse
Practice 13: Creativity Is Imagination in Action
12 Understanding Moods 165
Understanding Moods
Mood Animals and Making Change Naturally
13 Emotional Intensity 177
The Inner Experience of Emotional Intensity
The Outward Expression of Emotional Intensity
Dabrowski's Theory of Emotional Development
Cartography: Becoming a Master Mapmaker
14 Emotional Practices: Emotional
Growth and Power 195
Practice 14: Mapmaking at Level 2
Practice 15: Mapmaking at Level 3
Practice 16: Mapmaking at Level 4
15 The Ghosts of Intensity Past, Present, and Future 209
The Ghost of Intensity Past: Seriousness
The Ghost of Intensity Present: Perfectionism
The Ghost of Intensity Future: Anxiety
How to Be the Leader of the Ghosts
16 Living an Intense Life 217
Understand Your Nature
Find Support from Others
Take Action
Conclusion
Epilogue 223
Acknowledgments 225
Notes 227