Mark James Estren – författare

We have freedom of speech but we're afraid to speak. Our lives have become subjected to PC tyranny--a constant fear of "offending" someone. We think that we are independent and that it is the other guy who is influenced, brain washed, duped, persuaded. We feel like we think for ourselves. How can we "feel" otherwise? There's no way to know because countless influences and interactions have molded us. We're members of various groups--circles of friends, family, professional groups, hobby group, and workplace groups. Groups have a way of developing a view that it imposes with a kind of group-think. We want to belong, to be liked and included so go along and get along. We don't make waves by questioning. If we have a different view, we keep it to ourselves. Why rock the boat? Thinking for yourself is not so easy. When encountering an argument to a long held opinion or a wild idea, we use critical thinking to evaluate it, as we were taught to do in school. The problem is that critical thinking is critical.It focuses our thinking on the negative--what doesn't work, what's wrong with the idea--and encourages my-side thinking where we evaluate evidence in a way that favors our beliefs and entraps us into closed-mindedness. Thinking for yourself requires open-mindedness. Open-mindedness is being receptive and, when the issue is important, calls for actively searching for evidence against your beliefs. Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions. Every intellectual field is born out of a cluster of questions to which answers are needed. Had no questions been asked by those who laid the foundation for a field -- for example, Physics or Biology -- the field would never have been developed. We define tasks, express problems and delineate issues with questions. Answers signal an end point and stop thought, except when an answer generates a further question. Timothy Leary said, "to think for yourself you must question authority". To think, you must question. To think through or rethink anything, one must ask questions that stimulate thought. The quality of your questions determines the quality of your thinking. Thinking begins within some content when questions are generated.No questions equals no understanding. To engage in thinking through your content you must stimulate your thinking with questions that lead to further questions. Our own opinions is one authority we should frequently question. Times change. We change. Perspectives and values change. Book explores how opinions and values we held in the past need periodic evaluation and challenge. Independent thinkers evolve and need to shed the shackles of old views and opinions. Ridicule is the strongest weapon for pressing us to conform. It is a kind of bait that if you go for it will entrap you in an argument you can't win and leave you looking ridiculous and deflated. Question Authority; Think for Yourself offers techniques, with examples, of how to deflect attacks, side-tracks, and put-downs. If you've bitten your tongue and later wished you'd spoken up and not been cowed into silence by a mocking co-worker when you revealed a "politically incorrect" viewpoint, you'll find much of interest in Question Authority; Think for Yourself .

Most cholesterol doesn't come from foods -- it's made by the body itself! Statins work by interfering with the body's ability to manufacture cholesterol. Statins: Miracle or Mistake? explains both the pro and con sides of this incredible drug, using interviews with statin researchers and prescribers and presenting the findings in clear, jargon-free language. Learn how to watch for warning signs if you are using statins. Discover how statins are a huge business for both drug companies and anti-statin forces. This guide talks with people on all sides of the statin issue, finding out what they believe and why -- and how they stand to benefit. Most important, Statins: Miracle or Mistake? tells readers what to ask their own healthcare practitioners. It's time for nonprofessionals to learn how to manage these drugs. This important guide shows what to do -- and not do.

Worried about the nexus between stress and disease? Your know you've got to relax - but how? Stopping at the gym for an hour workout after work is not realistic. Prescription drugs and risk getting "hooked"? You should mediation - but how when you can't calm down! Authors Mark Estren, a Pulitzer-winning journalist who writes about medical and health, and self-help author, Docpotter show how emotional self-talk - like "shoulding" - sets off the "stress response" and how chronic stress can harm your health. More importantly, Estren and Potter offer a fresh, fun-filled approach to toning down stress, while having more fun.* Healing Hormones explains how to turn on natural chemicals - such as by dancing, running, snuggling, laughing, eating chocolate - to reduce stress and improve quality of your life. Anxious about a coming encounter? Snuggle your dog, while focusing on the "experience," right before meeting tells your brain to produce oxytocin, which soothes anxiety and facilitates socializing. No pet to snuggle? Watch a funny movie instead.Make sure to laugh hard to stimulates your body to produce natural morphine-like calming chemicals, called endorphins, and you may "ace" the encounter! *Anticipating laughing and fun stimulates endorphin production! Go ahead: Laugh!

Severe, chronic pain affects at least 116 million Americans every year. But there are fewer than 4,000 pain specialists in the United States, and many insurers won't cover physical therapy. But powerful pain medicines? They will certainly cover those. Prescriptions for powerful pain killers doubled between 1994 and 2008 -- and abuse skyrocketed as well. The grim headlines are all too familiar. Celebrities such as Whitney Houston die of overdoses. Teens mix legitimate medicines -- and pay with their lives. Heavy-handed government attempts to crack down on pain and anxiety medications have terrorized doctors and pharmacists and left thousands of desperate people in severe pain. Prescription Drug Abuse shows how big the problem is: how it became a problem, what is being done about it, and what readers can do. The book shows the risks, the benefits, and the safe way to use some of modern healthcare's most miraculous medicines.

Doctors think they heal with drugs. But only living cells can heal. When something is out of balance, your cells move to correct it because bodies want to be well. HEAL YOURSELF! HOW TO HARNESS PLACEBO POWER shows how to tap into this mysterious process to get well and stay well by harnessing your body's natural healing power--the power of placebo. These amazing effects are not just "in the mind." They can be observed and measured in the body's physiology. When patients believe in the treatment, ulcers heal, warts disappear, cancer goes into remission, swelling reduces--cells actually look different under the microscope. When your doctor believes in the treatment, the impact is even more powerful --not in every case, of course. But in enough that science now accepts that something is going on! HEAL YOURSELF! explains how researchers believe that the stress response creates an environment that promotes physiological breakdown, while the relaxation Response creates a healing environment. HEAL YOURSELF! offers specific things you can do, and do today, to turn on your body's innate healing mechanisms, including meditation, prayer, laughter, listening to music and rocking, Qi Gong, gratitude and forgiveness, and more.

Healing Hormones tackles a huge, attention-getting subject. TV and radio shows, websites telling people to take it easy, slow down, de-stress to feel better, live longer, be a better parent and more loving mate. But how? The prescriptions are disappointing: Yoga? Time-consuming and difficult for many. Prescription drugs? Costly, subject to abuse and may not be helpful. Naturopathic remedies? Unproven, untested and often ineffective.Healing Hormones has a better answer: show readers how to harness their own bodies'' heal producing chemicals to improve their lives. Healing Hormones takes the take-care-of-yourself trend a step beyond where it has been before. Author Mark J. Estren, Ph.D., investigates five body-produced hormones that counter the stress response to make life better, calmer and more relaxed. The five healing hormones are dopamine, nitric oxide, endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonin.Healing Hormones will be readers'' top choice to learn the pluses and minuses of the remarkable hormones that drive their health and happiness or undercut it. Estren—who has more than 20 years of experience writing about medical issues and research for patients and their families—explains how to harness the power of these healing hormones in clear, easily understandable language.

Doctors think they heal with drugs. But only living cells can heal. When something is out of balance, your cells move to correct it because bodies want to be well. HEAL YOURSELF! HOW TO HARNESS PLACEBO POWER shows how to tap into this mysterious process to get well and stay well by harnessing your body''s natural healing power—the power of placebo.These amazing effects are not just "in the mind." They can be observed and measured in the body''s physiology. When patients believe in the treatment, ulcers heal, warts disappear, cancer goes into remission, swelling reduces—cells actually look different under the microscope. When your doctor believes in the treatment, the impact is even more powerful —not in every case, of course. But in enough that science now accepts that something is going on!HEAL YOURSELF! explains how researchers believe that the stress response creates an environment that promotes physiological breakdown, while the relaxation Response creates a healing environment. HEAL YOURSELF! offers specific things you can do, and do today, to turn on your body''s innate healing mechanisms, including meditation, prayer, laughter, listening to music and rocking, Qi Gong, gratitude and forgiveness, and more.healing mechanisms.