At this point, it is clear that brendan kennedy is the best person to be a mentor to me. He is able to speak in generalities, to give generalities, and to walk into conversations while not saying too much. I have been a fan of kennedy’s work since his first book when I was in high school, and I am still not done appreciating the depth of his knowledge.
His work has been cited as the best non-fiction book of 2014 by _Time_ magazine, and as having the most original and relevant ideas in the field of psychology in 2014. It has influenced thousands of people in the field, from entrepreneurs to Nobel laureates. Kenedy is the only psychologist I have ever met who has the courage to share his ideas, and I find that refreshing.
I first encountered Kenedy’s books on the topic of mental illness and how it affects people when I worked in the mental health field in the late 1990s. It was an era of “talk therapy” and “talk cures” and I was lucky enough to work in a private practice with the one and only Dr. Richard Layard. He was a brilliant healer and I was fortunate enough to be in the same place as him.
Dr. Layard was also the author of the infamous Mental Health: A Theory and a Practice. It was another fascinating read for the time, and I can’t say I’ve ever been so grateful to be a patient of a doctor.
I was fortunate enough to have worked with a few of his patients and he taught me a lot about his theory of “cognitive therapies.” His book has since been published in its entirety, so you can get a sense of his philosophy of therapy here. Many of his patients were struggling with a variety of issues including drug addiction, depression, and anxiety.
As a general rule, the more drugs you are on, the more likely you are to be in a state of mind where you cant control your actions. This is pretty common among people who are addicted to drugs. Its also, however, true with other addictions like gambling, sex, violence, or even food. So, as long as you are not addicted to a substance that you are addicted to, you should be able to control your actions.
This is not a new idea, but it is a fairly recent one so it is a bit difficult to find good information on this subject. The most reliable answer I can find is that while you can, if you are on drugs, you probably won’t be able to control your actions. But if you are not on drugs, you should be able to control your actions.
A while back I wrote about the fact that gambling is addictive and you should not be able to get away with it. And so it is in most cases. But when you are using your brain, you will probably be able to control your actions.
Well, if you are addicted to a substance, then yes you should be able to get away with it. But I think it is a good idea to be aware of your own actions before they become so overpowering and overwhelming that you become a danger to yourself or others.
The truth is that gambling is addictive. It is a behavior that is not only not healthy, it is destructive. The fact that most people can’t stop playing if they don’t want to is not a good thing. But like any other behavior it should be something you are aware of. Like what you are willing to do, or what you are not willing to do. And when you are unwilling to do something, you are also not being a good person.