Capture: A Theory of The Mind by David A. Kessler - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

Goodreads | Capture: A Theory of the Mind by David A.
Kessler — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists 12/06/2017, 09*54
Home My Books Browse ▾ Community ▾ Search books
Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates
READERS ALSO ENJOYED
Stokes Croft Bristol Avon

Riverview
The Full Moon YHA Bristol
Guesthouse
from from from
€21.63 €51.23 €44.40
Book now Book now Book now
Want to Read
Rate this book GENRES
Listen Nonfic!on 12 users
Capture: A Theory of the Mind Science 11 users
by David A. Kessler Psychology 8 users
3.48 · Ra!ng Details · 252 Ra!ngs · 58 Reviews Health 4 users
Why do we think, feel, and act in ways we wished we did not? For decades, New York Mental Health > Mental Illness 3 users
Times bestselling author Dr. David A Kessler has studied this question with regard to See top shelves…
tobacco, food, and drugs. Over the course of these investigations, he identified one
underlying mechanism common to a broad range of human suffering. This phenomenon
ABOUT DAVID A. KESSLER
—capture—is the process by which our attention is hijacked and our brains
commandeered by forces outside our control. (David Kessler is also the name of another
author, a hospice expert who worked with
In Capture, Dr. Kessler considers some of the most profound questions we face as human Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, although David A.
beings: What are the origins of mental afflictions, from everyday unhappiness to Kessler did co-author a book on elder care.)
addiction and depression—and how are they connected? Where does healing and
transcendence fit into this realm of emotional experience? David Aaron Kessler is an American
pediatrician, lawyer, author, and
Analyzing an array of insights from psychology, medicine, neuroscience, literature, administrator (both academic and
philosophy, and theology, Dr. Kessler deconstructs centuries of thinking, examining the governmental). He was the Commissioner
central role of capture in mental illness and questioning traditional labels that have of the Food and Drug Administration
obscured our understanding of it. With a new basis for understanding the phenomenon (FDA) from November 8, 1990 to February
of capture, he explores the concept through the emotionally resonant stories of both 28, 1997, and ...more
well-known and un-known people caught in its throes.
More about David A. Kessler...
The closer we can come to fully comprehending the nature of capture, Dr. Kessler
BOOKS BY DAVID A. KESSLER
argues, the better the chance to alleviate its deleterious effects and successfully change
our thoughts and behavior Ultimately, Capture offers insight into how we form thoughts
and emotions, manage trauma, and heal. For the first time, we can begin to understand
the underpinnings of not only mental illness, but also our everyday worries and
anxieties. Capture is an intimate and critical exploration of the most enduring human
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24336403-capture Page 1 of 14
Goodreads | Capture: A Theory of the Mind by David A. Kessler — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists 12/06/2017, 09*54
mystery of all: the mind. (less)
Hardcover, 406 pages

Published April 12th 2016 by Harper Wave (first published September 15th 2015)
ISBN 0062388517 (ISBN13: 9780062388513)

Other Edi!ons (8) More…
SPONSORED BOOKS
The Learning
Nana’s !me is near. She called
her Grandchildren, and these
ARMED 21st-century
WARRIORS let nothing stand in
the way of what NANA WANTS!
www.goodreads.com
Remember Me
HOLIDAY SALE
$.99 December only!
www.goodreads.com
view 26 reviews »
The Hunger (S!ll Alive Vol. 2)

A zombie apocalypse? Lesbians
struggling to survive and form
rela!onships? What? Yes! Vol. 2
of this ebook series is out now!
www.goodreads.com
More Books...
SHARE THIS BOOK
0
Like 0
+ Share on your website
TRIVIA ABOUT CAPTURE: A THEORY...

All Edi!ons | Add a New Edi!on | Combine
...Less Detail edit details
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Get A Copy: Amazon Online Stores ▾ Libraries
FRIEND REVIEWS
Recommend This Book None of your friends have reviewed this book yet.
READER Q&A
Ask the Goodreads community a ques!on about Capture
Ask anything about the book
Popular Answered Ques!ons
Is this written for academics or non preffionals?
Like · One Year Ago · See All 2 Answers
Jennifer nonprofessionals
See 1 ques!on about Capture…
LISTS WITH THIS BOOK
This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »
COMMUNITY REVIEWS
filter | sort: default (?) | Ra!ng Details (showing 1-30)
Debra Komar rated it Jun 21, 2016

I am genuinely struggling to figure out what the point of this book is. It
begins with great promise: an introduction on David Foster Wallace and
what drove him to suicide. Interesting stuff. Then there are two chapters of
scattered thoughts on the history of psychology. Then a series of chapters in
which Kessler uses other people's books to make a point (doing some world-
class cherry-picking along the way).
As best as I can tell, this entire book was written to try and get Kessler's
notion of "capture" into the public consciousness, and the word into
common usage. There is little point. The notion that we fixate on things,
and that such fixations can become obsessive and debilitating, is not new.
That Kessler gave it a pop-psych name is the only new piece of this puzzle.
Kessler writes well and makes simple scientific concepts accessible, but
there isn't any meat here. This seems like little more than a medical version
of what Malcom Gladwell does with stats and random topics. I didn't put the
book down understanding anything - myself, my own obsessions, other
people - any better. Dear Dr. Kessler - exactly what were you trying to
accomplish? (less)
13 likes · Like · 3 comments · see review
Aussiescribbler Aussiescribbler rated it Jun 01, 2016

Shelves: psychology, religion, science, health, sociology
It means a lot for one’s life experience to be understood - to be able to read

a book like this one and say, “Yes, that is what happened to me.”
I’ve written about the way we can get caught up in cognitive negative
feedback loops, for instance if we feel guilty about being selfish then the
suffering brought on by the guilt causes an increase in our focus on our own
situation and thus we become more selfish which leads to more guilt… And
we can become fixated on those aspects of our own psyche which we find
impossible to accept in the same way that our tongue keeps finding its way
back to that sore tooth. I’ve written about these things base on my own
experience, but this book puts this kind of phenomenon - that of being
captured by something which won’t let go of us because we can’t let go of it
- into a broader and deeper framework of understanding.
David A. Kessler, M.D. worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in
which capacity he studied the problem of cigarette addiction. Later he made
a similar study of over-eating. Gradually he realised that there is a
mechanism which underlies these forms of addiction which is also present
in depression, mania, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress
disorder and the kind of obsession which can lead to horrific acts of
violence. He calls this mechanism “capture.”
When it comes to the subject of mental illness there is often controversy as

to whether a condition is the result of an imbalance in brain chemistry,
unhelpful patterns of cognition or an oppressive social environment. What
Kessler has done is to bring all of these factors together into a coherent
holistic framework.
The neurons in our brain respond to stimuli in our environment on the basis
of the emotional charge which those stimuli carry for us. A single spot of
colour in a grey landscape will attract our attention by its novelty. Our
attention will be drawn quickly to a snake because we feel it may pose us a
danger. A hungry person’s attention will be drawn to a chocolate bar more
strongly than will be the case for someone who is satiated. And our neural
pathways record the connections between experiences and the more often
we revisit them the more they are reinforced. So if a particular song was
playing the first time we set eyes on someone with whom we fell in love, it
is likely that we will think of them every time we hear it.
These natural and helpful processes can turn against us in an insidious way.
If a particular kind of thinking has a powerful emotional charge because it
makes us feel very bad we may find it hard to turn our attention to anything
else when some aspect of our experience brings it back to mind. When we
talk about triggering, this is what we mean - our brain makes an association
between something in our environment and the memory of an experience
which was traumatic to us. Because the memory is more emotionally
powerful than the other things which could be the focus of our attention, we
travel back down that well-worn groove. The same kind of thing can happen
with self-condemning thoughts or thoughts of committing acts of violence.
The emotional charge captures our attention and the more our thoughts go
back down that path the more the habit is reinforced. Or it could be
something we powerfully associate with relief from suffering, such as
alcohol or food, which captures us in a self-defeating way.
So we can see that the chemical processes of the brain, unhelpful patterns of
cognition and responses to environmental stresses are all involved, often
feeding back upon each other. According to Kessler, studies show that
antidepressants work by inhibiting emotional reactivity to the cues which
bring a depressive reaction. In other words, when we are depressed we hang
onto negative thoughts because they hurt so much we can’t tear our
attention away from them.
An explanation of what capture is and how it works takes up only a small

part of the book. The rest consists of case studies of people - famous or
anonymous - who have been in the grip of some form of capture. The key
example is the novelist David Foster Wallace, who was tortured by self-
criticism to the extent that he was driven to take his own life. He is not
alone. The lives and obsessions of other writers who went the same way -
Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway - are also examined. There
are tales of those captured by alcoholism, self-harm, gambling, making
obscene phone calls, delusions of grandeur, etc. And then there are those
whose capture led to violence, including the murders of John Lennon and
Robert Kennedy and the mass killings at Columbine and Sandy Hook,
amongst others. A section is also devoted to those captured by Islamic
extremist ideology.
Capture needn’t always be a negative though. Kessler profiles some

individuals who have been inspired by a spiritual form of capture - Simone
Weill, Howard Thurman, William Wordsworth and Martin Luther, etc.
This eloquent and compassionate journey through the inner battles of all
these individuals gives the science of capture, drawn from masses of
scientific papers cited in the notes, a human face to which we can all relate.
There is some discussion at the end of the book on how we might be able to
loosen the bonds of capture, taking some inspiration from Buddhism’s
techniques of mindfulness and Alcoholics Anonymous’s philosophy of
fostering a sense of unity with others, but perhaps the most powerful tool is
knowledge itself. If we know what is happening and why it is happening and
we can put a name to it, the power dynamic between us and it has shifted.
(less)
7 likes · Like · comment · see review
Chance Lee rated it Jul 15, 2016

Shelves: true-story
Capture: Unraveling the Mystery of Mental Suffering is a non-fiction book

that does exactly what the cover says it will.
Researching depression, Kessler say many similarities between it and a

variety of other things, like addiction, anxiety, obsession, mania, etc.
"The medical model has long been that depression is the manifestation of a
'broken' mind--a biological error--that causes people to experience what
feels like unbearable pain. This oversimplification does nothing to help us
understand ...more
Laura Reading rated it Apr 12, 2016

Shelves: nonfic!on-2016
Once you begin to read this book be prepared for your mind to rev up and go
in unexpected directions. It is amazing how much can be researched and
written about what could be initiallylook like a narrow topic. Capture refers
to a brain process, a stimulus response. Yet there are innunerable related
responses that affect other brain processes. A capture can even trigger
additional captures.
Told by examining collected narratives of fact, fact based fiction and fiction
regarding mental disease and ...more
Andrea McDowell rated it May 01, 2016

Shelves: science, brain-stuﬀ
What a tedious book. A lengthy chapter describing basic brain function is

followed by anecdote after anecdote describing what the author calls
"capture." then the book ends.
According to Kessler, "capture" is what happens when the attention system

of the brain is overwhelmed by some stimulus and the brain (and the person
attached to it) is unable to break free, with mostly deleterious consequences.
Anxiety, depression, psychosis, violence, addiction, ideology--all are, in his
view, examples of a larger system failure he calls "capture."
Interesting theory, but he provides absolutely nothing to support it. First he

describes the attention system, then he gives hundreds of pages of separate
and unconnected anecdotes about people who suffered from one of the
above afflictions, claiming that they show "capture" in action, and then the
book ends with the vague idea that one negative capture might be replaced
by another, stronger, positive one (religion--ugh--or maybe nature or
something). This is, he says, a matter of choice, which is not the same as
willpower, though his description of what makes one different from the
other is ... well, nonexistent.
Maybe at some point someone with actual credentials in the fields of

psychology or neuroscience will come up with a testable hypothesis on this
idea and conduct some science to support or discredit it. This book comes
nowhere close to doing that. (less)
2 likes · Like · 2 comments · see review
Mary rated it May 31, 2016

This book was a waste of time. The idea that attention and salience work
together to narrow our focus before we're aware of what's going on could
have been interesting, and I thought it was going to be a new angle from
which to look at things like depression and anxiety. As presented, however,
the concept seems weak, poorly supported, and, most importantly, not
helpful.
Most of the book consists of vignettes, many from the lives of the deeply
troubled. The problem, which I realized too late, is ...more
Corinne rated it Apr 27, 2016

Shelves: arc, non-fic!on, 2016, philosophy, mental-illness, depression, psychology,
science, suicide, murder, tbrdrawer16, bi-polar-disorder
3.5 stars
What is the root of mental illness - that continuum of afflictions that affect
so many people in some degree? How are these illnesses related and can
knowledge of that root somehow be used to stimulate change?
As someone with my own issues who also interacts daily with those using
medication to help stem the tide of the pain of mental illness, I was
interested in this book because I hoped it would give me some insight into
the minds of these people that I love. I think I approached it i ...more
1 like · Like · comment · see review
Chris!ne added it Jun 12, 2016

The theory of this book is one I've held for since reading Hesse's Siddhartha
in high school: the only "escape" from the wheel of any particular obsession
is a kind flavor of mindfulness. It is the idea that all idols beget more of the
same even if one face (being obsessed with running, God, art) is more
pleasing than another (violence against others, the self).
It's the natural progression from a child blocking a painful world and
focusing on a fantasy to a young adult who can no longer believe such
fantasies and thus turns to substances (many of which won't immediately
ruin a young body) to someone who then is burdened with looking at the
world without chemical crutches to someone who learns to replace
existential pain with reliance on a societally positive idol. Kessler describes
many anecdotes of detours and the various orders of idol-switching in order
to prove this argument: the universality of capture/obsession across many

seemingly different behaviors.
This is a book about a theory of the mind, as the jacket claims. I see some
complaints about the lack of your typical controlled study as evidence. True,
this is a primarily qualitative book that discusses case studies occurring in
the public eye. It is nonfiction, but there is definitely some indirect style in
that the chapter on David Foster Wallace was definitely the most "literary"
in composition and point. The chapter on the obsessions of criminals was
very "true crime", and the whole form of the book—delving into very
fascinating stories of others' idols followed by an abrupt end once the
concept of mindfulness is introduced—is the actualized thesis. Also, the
point of talking about Martin Luther trying to accept Eckhart's idea of great
spiritual darkness before the dawn was nicely placed in the penultimate
section. All the way down, the book pleasantly proves itself as self-aware.
What did I want more from this book? The most salient points concerned
people's reaction as rational response, but didn't throughly explore why one
person might be captured and another not. That can come off as ignoring
the immutable things of genetics, childhood, etc. Or why these systems
evolved or why they are encouraged. Another book for another time, I
suppose. But considered wholly, this book stands well enough in its scope.
(less)
Julie rated it Apr 14, 2016

Shelves: psychology
I wanted this book to be better than it was. The premise is that many diverse
forms of psychological suffering are the result of capture, or fixation, which
seems to be a natural tendency of the mind. I think this general idea is
sound, and the author provides numerous examples such as depression,
OCD, cutting, addiction, gambling, etc. In fact, most of the book deals with
case studies of various examples of capture. I found the quality and depth of
these case studies to be uneven. My favorite case study was that of David
Foster Wallace, although it was also quite heartbreaking.
The later chapters deal with positive examples of capture. I found these to be
less persuasive--I didn't get the same sense of fixation in these case
studies. The author also poses the question of whether the only way to free
someone from a negative form of capture is to replace it with another type
of capture. The question really isn't answered, but the very end of the book
suggests that meditation and mindfulness may help people escape from
negative capture. I wish this last section of the book had been expanded.
Overall, I found it to be a fascinating, well-reasoned, and well-written book,

but I still felt somewhat dissatisfied after finishing it. (less)
Hester rated it Apr 22, 2016

Shelves: psychology
This is an odd book, which puts the natural philosophy back into psychology
and biology. Kessler's argument is that the world is so full of sensory and
emotional stimulation, that we only process a tiny bit of it, chosen by our
mind's filters. If we become obsessed with an idea or feeling, all of our input
is filtered through that obsession, reinforcing it. This idea seems more
philosophical than biological (he refers to William James a lot), but then he
finds the scientific counterpart to these ideas in neurological studies.
He illustrates his hypothesis with little biographical and literary sketches;
many of them feel like stretches. I don't think it is the be-all and end-all of
mental illness. But attention does play a major role in ocd, anxiety, and
depression. A friend of mine was concerned for another friend of hers, and
when I described Kessler's concept of "capture," she said that was exactly
what was happening with the friend she was worrying about.
On the plus side: this book did what we want every book to do. I now look at
the world a little differently. I feel like the book could have been better if
they ideas had been allowed to bake a little longer. (less)
Audrey rated it Nov 27, 2016

In an effort to understand human suffering, Dr. Kessler examines the idea of
"capture," the process by which our thoughts and attention are hijacked in a
way that can feel out of control and cause us endless pain.
The book is wide-ranging in its examination of the idea of capture in

relation to mental illness, violence, ideology, and spirituality. He makes the
examination almost completely through mini case studies of individuals,
some famous (David Foster Wallace, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf) and others
not. This made the book an easy and fascinating read.
Perhaps more impressive than the book itself is the more than 100 pages of
notes and references. The author did exhaustive research and it's all here for
the reader to peruse and pursue further. I would have liked a bit more of the
information from the notes to make its way into the text. It might have
made the book a little tougher going, but there are some gems in the notes,
I'm sure, and yet I wasn't motivated to read them separately. It's almost as
if Kessler has written two books: a popular and a scholarly one. (less)
GONZA rated it Dec 26, 2015

This is a very interesting and well written book, that goes trough the life of
famous or less famous people to describe the process of capture, that in the
words of the author is "..the process by which our attention is hijacked and
our brains commandeered by forces outside our control." cit.
It is not only a book on psychology, or about mindfulness or motivation, but
it's a way to understand why we do or not do something and how to get to
achieve the best for us. Brilliant.
Questo libro é molto i ...more
Lisa Wendell rated it · review of another edi!on Jul 18, 2016

Interesting, but not much that's new here in the field of mental suffering,
habits, brain neurochemistry or neuroplasticity. Much of the same material
on depression, anxiety, ocd, etc. is rehashed and presented through a
slightly different lens but without any ensuing or significant change in, or
contribution to, current information or outcomes. Not exactly a major
"unraveling" of anything.
A good 1/3 of the last part of the book is devoted to ridiculously complicated
"notes"--regarding philosophical discussions/debates/extrapolations/mini-
essays of James, Wittgenstein and others. Almost another book slapped on--
-and not one most would choose to read, let alone be able to understand.
Bottom line, start your mindfulness meditation practice, keep it up and hope
for the best. Blah, blah.
People looking for something substantive would do better to skip this book
and go right to the source, Jon Kabat-Zinn in "Full Catastrophe Living."
(less)
1 like · Like · 1 comment · see review
Dpdwyer rated it · review of another edi!on Aug 30, 2016

Shelves: mind-brain-behavior, psychology
Given ecstatic blurbs by writers I admire, I expected a great deal more. The
concept of capture and its apparent ubiquity leads in a useful direction. But
the concept is barely fleshed out. I wished he had talked more about
beneficial capture, like meditation, religion, AA, etc. Most of the book
describes famous cases of capture, almost all pathological. I would have
liked to have seen more attention paid to how to escape capture. Quotes:
---David Foster Wallace: "It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who
commit suicide with firearms almost always shoot themselves in the head.
The shoot the terrible master."
---Capture: "a stimulus---a place, a thought, a memory, a person---takes
hold of our attention and shifts our perception."
---"Perception...is not a passive state through which we take in the world
around us, but a form of active selection."
(less)
Lisa rated it · review of another edi!on Jun 03, 2016

I enjoyed Kessler's previous publication so I was curious to see what this
was like. When I read the opening paragraphs, I winced when he informs the
reader that he is of putting forth a "theory of capture". A cutesy term for a
"new" theory. Skeptical, I read on. Unfortunately, the book, though littered
with entertaining anecdotal "case studies" is not, to me, comprehensive nor
convincing enough to achieve a "unifying" theory of mental "illness" Skip
this one and read Kessler in arenas for which he is better suited (less)
Kate Wyer rated it · review of another edi!on May 11, 2016

This book was obviously very well researched (about a third of the total
pages are actually notes and sources), but I was left feeling like, eh? I did
learn more about mass murdering individuals, but that wasn't why I picked
up the book. This book wasn't what I thought it would be.
1 like · Like · 3 comments · see review
Jon rated it · review of another edi!on Jul 05, 2016

Maybe too heavy on the anecdotal, attempting, I'm guessing, in following
the Gladwellian tradition, an interesting book none the less that probably
could have been cut by a third in the interest of brevity and trusting one's
audience to get the point after a few examples instead of twelve.
Dagmar rated it Feb 01, 2016

Shelves: giveaways
It was very insightful. I have quite a bit more to say about the book but short
for time right now. Will amend this review within this next week.
Jason rated it · review of another edi!on Jan 11, 2017

Shelves: mind
Autobook. Good narration. Interesting anecdotes. Could have been four stars
if the explanation and defense of thesis was done better.
“The theory of capture is composed of three basic elements: narrowing of

attention, perceived lack of control and change in affect, or emotional state”
The author attempts to introduce the theory that a behaviour of the mind
causes it to get hijacked by an attention loop and that is what causes
depression, suicide, addiction, obsession and aggression.
Unfortunately ...more
Like · see review
Dale rated it Mar 21, 2017

This book was a series of profiles of various troubled individuals. Not at all
what I expected.
Like · comment · see review
Stephanie Moran rated it Aug 04, 2016

Shelves: could-not-finish, 2016
The secondary title on the book I got from the library states "Unraveling the
Mystery of Mental Suffering." As some who suffered from depression, I
thought, oh wow, I would really like to know what triggered my years of
suffering because it is something that I could never really put my finger on.
This book, I thought, was right up my alley.
First, this book has over 100 pages of "Notes." Some of the notes I thought
were revelant, but some at 3 pages long in length, I thought well, if this
discussion was that important, why wasn't it just part of the actual text. I
found them very distracting and stopped reading them by the time I was on
the 2nd chapter.
It's seems the title was more appealing to me then the actual context. I felt
the first part of the book, the author was trying to force the idea of capture
down our throats. I didn't like it. Kessler uses examples from famous
authors and sometimes fictional characters to plead his case. Part one was
okay for me, and I thought the most interesting.
Part Two and Part Three were just completely lost on me. And with 50 pages
left, I decided it wasn't worth me finishing. The reason being, the author
starts to give mini-biographies of differing people. He really doesn't put the
pieces together and some of the people weren't even mentally ill, so I
couldn't really figure out the point of including these stories.
Also, he remarks several times that David Foster Wallace was treated
sucessfully with medicines - I would like to say, I don't believe that. Did the
medicine stop him from committing sucicide? Yes, possibly. But it didn't
take away the pain and the mental suffering - he still suffered with the
medicine - he had to do other things to help himself - it's not just the
medicine. This is also reflective in some other stories where the author
states the medicine had the opposite effect on the patient - patients need
better options that just drugs being thrown at them. As the author states,
"By muting our investment in salient stimuli, these medications allow
patients to regain some measure of control over their attention.
Unforunately, patients often find that these drugs mute all their responses,
endering their emotional landscape flat and their days listless." YES! This is
exactly why people stop taking their medicines (author doesn't make this
connection) There needs to be better care and alternatives!! This book didn't
really help on uncovering what the causes realy were to then try to discuss
what the answers are.
Some of the discussion I could relate to and realize, exactly, that's what it's
like ... "Another distinguishing feature of depression is the tendency to
overgeneralize autobiographical memory - that is, to highlight and revisit
negative experiences from the past and see them as representative of an
inevitable pattern." And that, is what outsiders really need to know about
depression - so all of us who suffer and have suffered stop hearing that "It's
all for attention." No, folks, it's really not.
The positives of this book included:

Many references to other literature and authors to discover. (less)
David rated it Oct 12, 2016

I'm giving this a low rating, but it's not just a garden-variety bad book. I
could see people loving it or hating it. And I might be one of the ones who
love it if I read it again in 15 years. I should probably wait and let my
thoughts about it settle before writing a review, but the library wants it back
by a rapidly approaching arbitrary date, so here goes.
It's almost two books in one --
1. a scholarly book some brief text with expert interviews (e.g., Kabat-Zinn
on mindfulness as a way of retraining your attention deployment) and a
massive associated database in the end-of-book Notes section providing the
specs on cognitive bias modification, thought suppression, obsessive-
compulsive disorder, default mode network in the brain, etc. etc. etc.
2. an anecdotal book with a few long (e.g., the suicide of the writer David
Foster Wallace), some medium (the grad student who shot up a movie
theater, the Sandy Hook school shooter), and many short (non-well-known
people with an alcohol problem, or compulsive distance running habit, or
religious devotion) passages intended to illustrate his unifying theme, which
is.........
...........lots of stuff -- mental illness, violence, overeating, spirituality,

transformational life improvement......can be explained by the phenomenon
of "capture" in which some stimulus grabs hold of your attention and won't
let go, ultimately narrowing your field of awareness for short [meditation
session] or long [chronic addiction] period of time.
I think how much you like the book will depend in part on whether you're a
lumper or a splitter. If you like the huge umbrella idea (I see that another
goodreads reviewer already likened it to a Gladwell book, which seems apt to
me) that seems to account for everything in a simple manner, this will
appeal. But if you're the sort of reader who goes for finer distinctions
("yeah, I get that the Columbine shooters were preoccupied by the idea of
killing a bunch of people, and someone who plays golf every single weekend
is captured by the game, but still those phenomena have some important
differences as well"), you might end up being driven a little nuts by the end
of the book as he "captures" (ha ha--nice wordplay, me) more and more
behavior in his preferred explanatory framework. (less)
Adrienne rated it Oct 12, 2016

Shelves: nonfic!on-science-and-psychology, first-reads
First, my apologies to the author for my late review. I received this book
through Goodreads First Reads.
5 stars! As a lover of psychology and learning about the mind, I was

immediately intrigued when I read the summary. And it was wonderful, a
fantastic book that I just could not put down! Fascinating stories about real
people who have been caught in the phenomenon the author refers to as
"capture." What is capture? Capture is what occurs when our rational minds
feel like they've been hijacked by something we cannot control. This means
that something grabs our attention, and for some reason, we become more
and more focused on it, until it becomes an obsession of sorts. The thing
(person, place, memory, thought, etc) captured our thoughts. We have been
captured by what grabbed our attention and we cannot escape its pull on us.
We become trapped on a hamster wheel of sorts.
The author uses examples of the mechanism of capture in action. David

Foster Wallace, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the Columbine school
shootings, John Lennon, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and Martin Luther
are all discussed. Examples of what can cause capture include rejection,
abusive parents, alcohol, gambling, physical pain, childhood trauma, love,
death, drugs, control, abandonment, going mad, and religion. (All of this
can be gleaned from the Contents page.) The author explains how capture
relates to emotional and mental distress, as well as some historical and
scientific context of capture (including William James and Freud).
I found this book to be a fascinating read about the mind and our varied,
colorful emotional lives. It was insightful. While there were many different
things discussed throughout the book, I felt that the author wove everything
together well. I recommend it! (less)
Like · see review
Joseph rated it Aug 26, 2016

Capture is a fascinating catalog of people with obsessions or passions
(depending on the outcome of their lives). It could have used a framework to
tie the concepts and anecdotes together, as its absence allows the author's
theory to apply to practically any and every person that met a tragic end (i.e.
suicide, homicide, etc).
The first part of the book covers mostly academics and artists, the second
part covers psychopaths, and the third covers spiritual figures and others
that don't fit in the previous parts. The anecdotes have a voyeuristic nature
that delves into the inner thoughts of the subjects, but tends to focus on
negative and forces a very agnostic perspective (the language used is very
politically correct, as to jar the reader from a smooth reading of the text).
Ultimately, the book fails to come to any cause or conclusion for the
“capture”. Instead, some anecdotes seem more for the sake of trivia and
making a connection between all these fixated individuals. For example,
drug use is commonly mentioned among the subjects cited, but the author
remains neutral as to if the predilections of these individuals were caused
by, exacerbated, or a by-product of their condition. This leaves the reader a
little unsatisfied and no more enlightened on the topic after completion of
reading the book.
(less)
Like · see review
Cynthia rated it · review of another edi!on Oct 03, 2016

Should have been a 5! The book gets off to a roaring start with the premise
that we are all subject to "Capture;" that is, the experience of having one's
attention "captured" by some stimulus we may not even be aware of, then
feeling discomfort, having a change of affect (the emotional lens through
which we view the world), a narrowing of attention, and then an automatic
response discordant with conscious intentions leading to a feeling of loss of
control. A simple example would be hearing laugh ...more
Mike Bushman rated it · review of another edi!on Aug 15, 2016

Excellent series of vignettes illustrating Kessler's theory that a common
mechanism he calls capture runs across a range of mental illnesses.
Kessler's theory helps explain why mindfulness, practicing gratitude,
spirituality and many other practices used by those suffering from mental
health battles have track records of success. A couple of comments from the
book stand out. "The most heartening aspect of capture is the possibility of
being released from suffering by escaping the orbit of a feed ...more
jen8998 rated it Sep 08, 2016

It's certainly an interesting collection of examples of people becoming
fixated (captured) for both good and ill but I am uncertain what this adds to
our understanding of mental health and how to treat it.
Cathy Hasty rated it · review of another edi!on Sep 21, 2016

Shelves: psychotherapy, consciousness, pastoral-care-and-supervision
I skimmed the first half and read the second half of the book carefully,
starting with Part III, chapter 7. The first half documents the power of
"negative" capture. I have seen enough mental suffering to get the gist. The
second half documents positive capture or transforming negative capture
through spirituality, meditation, AA, service, etc. The book has intriguing
ideas and complex reflections which I enjoyed. I wonder how his idea of
capture would be similar to and different from the Jungia ...more
Rubina rated it · review of another edi!on Jun 04, 2016

Shelves: psychology, behavioral-science
"Capture" is a term Dr Kessler gives to the mechanism when something

commands our attention in a way that feels uncontrollable and influence our
behavior. This book is a collection of life examples of people experiencing
capture, providing a landscape about mental afflictions, from mild
unhappiness, addiction, manic depression to suicidal depression. While I
enjoyed the book, I think would have liked if there was more discussion on
how to free ourselves from capture.
Jt O'Neill rated it · review of another edi!on Jul 21, 2016

I was intrigued with the concept and was curious about the author's
explanation of "capture" but, as others have noted, I was left hanging
without clear answers. It was an interesting read with a lot of anecdotal
accounts of "capture". I learned a lot about those situations but I am still
left wondering how one becomes captured by obsessive thoughts and,
perhaps more importantly to me, how does one escape capture?
« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 next »
DISCUSS THIS BOOK new topic
topics started by posts views last ac!vity
Islam vs Chris!anity in this book Aime 1 (1 new) 1 May 06, 2016 10:17AM
More topics...
© 2017 Goodreads Inc about us adver!se author program jobs api our blog authors & adver!sers blog terms privacy help switch to: mobile version

Capture: A Theory of The Mind by David A. Kessler - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Capture: A Theory of The Mind by David A. Kessler - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Goodreads | Capture: A Theory of the Mind by David A.

Kessler — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists 12/06/2017, 09*54

Home My Books Browse ▾ Community ▾ Search books

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

READERS ALSO ENJOYED

Stokes Croft Bristol Avon

Listen Nonfic!on 12 users

Capture: A Theory of the Mind Science 11 users

by David A. Kessler Psychology 8 users

3.48 · Ra!ng Details · 252 Ra!ngs · 58 Reviews Health 4 users

mystery of all: the mind. (less)

Hardcover, 406 pages

ISBN 0062388517 (ISBN13: 9780062388513)

The Hunger (S!ll Alive Vol. 2)

SHARE THIS BOOK

+ Share on your website

TRIVIA ABOUT CAPTURE: A THEORY...

Ask the Goodreads community a ques!on about Capture

Ask anything about the book

Popular Answered Ques!ons

Is this written for academics or non preffionals?

Like · One Year Ago · See All 2 Answers

See 1 ques!on about Capture…

LISTS WITH THIS BOOK

filter | sort: default (?) | Ra!ng Details (showing 1-30)

Debra Komar rated it Jun 21, 2016

13 likes · Like · 3 comments · see review

Aussiescribbler Aussiescribbler rated it Jun 01, 2016

It means a lot for one’s life experience to be understood - to be able to read

- into a broader and deeper framework of understanding.

When it comes to the subject of mental illness there is often controversy as

An explanation of what capture is and how it works takes up only a small

Capture needn’t always be a negative though. Kessler profiles some

7 likes · Like · comment · see review

Chance Lee rated it Jul 15, 2016

Capture: Unraveling the Mystery of Mental Suffering is a non-fiction book

Researching depression, Kessler say many similarities between it and a

2 likes · Like · comment · see review

Laura Reading rated it Apr 12, 2016

2 likes · Like · comment · see review

Andrea McDowell rated it May 01, 2016

What a tedious book. A lengthy chapter describing basic brain function is

According to Kessler, "capture" is what happens when the attention system

Interesting theory, but he provides absolutely nothing to support it. First he

Maybe at some point someone with actual credentials in the fields of

2 likes · Like · 2 comments · see review

Mary rated it May 31, 2016

3 likes · Like · comment · see review

Corinne rated it Apr 27, 2016

1 like · Like · comment · see review

Chris!ne added it Jun 12, 2016

to prove this argument: the universality of capture/obsession across many

1 like · Like · comment · see review

Julie rated it Apr 14, 2016

Overall, I found it to be a fascinating, well-reasoned, and well-written book,

1 like · Like · comment · see review

Hester rated it Apr 22, 2016

He illustrates his hypothesis with little biographical and literary sketches;

1 like · Like · comment · see review

Audrey rated it Nov 27, 2016

The book is wide-ranging in its examination of the idea of capture in

1 like · Like · comment · see review

GONZA rated it Dec 26, 2015