Mind and Mood: Understanding and Controlling Your Emotions

Among this book's strengths is its historical approach to emotions, ranging from Biblical and ancient Greek observations of human feelings to Darwinian explanations. To show the relationship between mind and body, internist Curtis uses unique cases such as ""Tom's Stomach,'' in which doctors literally had a window into the coloration of one man's emotions. He also deftly shows emotion's rich spectrum, e.g., how trepidation, fear, dread, terror, panic and horror differ from each other. Sections covering psychotherapy, behavior modification, endocrines and the nervous system are commonly found in other volumes; the chapter on personality tests is fresh and will be of interest. A weakness, however, is Curtis's distant, formal tone, that doesn't make contact with the individual reader. (12-up)