The Paranoia Switch: How Terror Rewires Our Brains and Reshapes Our Behavior--and How We Can Reclaim Our Courage [ハードカバー]

Martha Stout's newest book, The Paranoia Switch, is a welcome addition to the new and growing science of ponerology: the study of the root causes and genesis of evil, on both the social and interpersonal levels.

A recurring theme of Stout's book is the similarity in essence (but not scope) of a battered spouse and a country, battered by terror and paranoia, under the sway of a psychologically deviant leader. Stout not only lists the character traits to watch out for in leaders, but also the steps through which a society cycles between stages of limbic warfare.

Traumatic events, like terrorism, overload our limbic system. The heightened response of our amygdala, which registers the emotional significance of the event, leads to a decreased response in the hippocampus, which usually prioritizes information and allows the higher brain centers to create coherent memories.

So, traumatic events do not get integrated by the higher brain centers, but instead leave us with nonintegrated fragments of memory: isolated images and sensations. These memories can then be "triggered" by similar images. In this way, ruthless and conscienceless leaders can keep us in a state of vulnerable paranoia.

They stage or co-opt national catastrophes in order to "save" their public, in much the same way that an abuser will beat his wife, only to "save" her from everyone else around her. The logic is twisted, but the phenomenon of "battered wife syndrome" works remarkably well for human predators.

In a time of crisis, populations turn to authoritarian leaders, to their own detriment. Only a knowledge of terrorism's root purposes and causes can protect us from its effects. When fearmongers like the American government leaders (Republican and Democrat) exploit terror, the "terrorists" win. And often, the terrorists are the very people who exploit terror.

Every American should read THE PARANOIA SWITCH as soon as possible. It will change the way you think about yourself and the country you live in. The writing is extremely beautiful, as you would expect from a book by Martha Stout, and the pages fly by because they're fascinating and because of the stories, but that's not really why everyone should read it. You should read it because if we all did, we might really be able to get our country back. And also our "selves."
The book begins with descriptions of just how terrified and full of grief everyone was right after September 11, 2001. You think you know this already, but when you see the actual descriptions and numbers, it's mind-blowing. After this, there's a test you can give yourself in the privacy of your own home to see how anxious you yourself are right now.
Then there's a chapter on how terrorism really works, told from a psychologist's point of view. This is a brand new way for most of us to think about terrorism.
Most of the rest of the book is about the unethical "fear politics" that have gone on in the United States since the terrorist attack in 2001. Dr. Stout describes in layman's language how terror affects the brain itself, how psychological trauma places a "paranoia switch" in our brains which sits there invisibly until something or SOMEONE pushes it. Then she discusses the sort of politician (the "fear broker") who would stoop low enough to use our fears to increase his own power. She discusses several situations from American history where this has happened, the KKK for example, and Joseph McCarthy and the U.S. Senate hearings. It's eye opening to see all the similarities between those chapters in our history and what's happening right now and to relate all that to the study of the brain.
Then most important of all, the book gives a list of ten characteristics of politicians and leaders who are "fear brokers" so that we can learn to recognize them when we see them on our televisions or elsewhere. Did you know for example that fear politicians have a different way of using pronouns from the way "moral leaders" use pronouns? There are many, many other danger signs discussed in the book that you can actually learn to recognize.
I can imagine the difficult corner the author was in when she wrote THE SOCIOPATH NEXT DOOR, which is also a wonderful book. In that book she talks about how sociopaths (people who have no conscience) can reach very high levels in the society and in government, but I'm sure it wasn't possible for her to name names. Now in THE PARANOIA SWITCH, it's a lot clearer what she meant even though she doesn't use the same word (sociopath).
If all you're interested in is a book that talks about your personal life, your circle of friends, or help deciding if your boyfriend/girlfriend is nuts, then you're not someone who can fully appreciate THE PARANOIA SWITCH. If you want to read something new age about sending positive energy to the White House, then maybe get a different book. But if you want to read about bigger issues and REAL issues such as the real brain and the real condition of our government, please read THE PARANOIA SWITCH. To go along with the five stars, I'd like to give it a large banner that says IMPORTANT. MUST READ.
The author talks about courage in this book and tells good people how they can get their courage back. In my opinion, it took a lot of courage to write this book in the first place about the so-called leaders who are using our fear after 9/11 to try to control us. She takes the masks off some powerful people who definitely don't like to have their masks taken off. But it's only when we can see something clearly that we stand a chance of dealing with it. Many thanks to Dr. Stout.

A month ago, I have obtained this new book by Martha Stout, Ph.D, while browsing a local bookstore and this book has just been released this month. It was an interesting timing because this book has addressed how the traumatized event of 9/11 affected the American minds and how these minds were 'locked' on fear. By using her psychological and neuro-psychological research on fear and terror, Martha Stout wrote a very insightful book. Her work brings the reader to understand the nature of fear and terror, and how it was done to one's mind. There are nine chapters in this book, but it is composed of four parts: a personal struggle with fear, the phenomenon of terrorism, protection against future fear, and a new hope. Throughout The Paranoia Switch, there is an understanding about how politician leaders used people's fear by looking what are terrorism, limbic wars, and fear brokers.

We often hear this word, "terrorism," daily in our lives. We hear it on the radio, watch it on the news, read it in the newspapers, and we would feel the fear when this word is mentioned everywhere we go. In her book, Stout defined terrorism as "violence committed with the primary goal of manipulating the minds of the surviving population" (p. 27). So, why has terrorism becomes massive on global scale? It is because our fears are what fuels terrorism and our leaders are using our fears for their own selfish reasons. It is important for one to know, from reading this book, that terrorism does not always work unless it affects our minds.

Stout pointed out that the United States was a 'habituated' country until that morning of September 11, 2001. It was not 'used' to being exposed to acts of terrorism as other countries have had done, and it has experienced a profound shock. United States has yet to develop a coping mechanism to 'short-circuit the paranoia switch.' So, instead, its paranoia switch is stuck and it is continuing to be 'stuck' as long as the U.S. politicians keep feeding the public's fear (p. 39).

Secondly, the Limbic Wars are described in the fifth chapter, which Stout has included the American examples of Ku Klux Klan, the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans, and McCarthyism. And, she has detailed the six stages of Limbic War, including group trauma, fear brokers, scapegoatism, cultural regression, recognition and backlash, and regret and forgetting (p. 109-114). Her discussion of the limbic system and limbic resonance are clearly understandable and so are their roles on fear.

Thirdly, Fear Brokers are power-hungry individuals who use the public's fear to pursue their private agenda (p. 110). Chapter Eight of Paranoia Switch outlined the ten behavioral characteristics of fear brokers. Stout pointed out that it is critical for the reader to identify and to know how to deal with the fear brokers. One of her suggestions was when one sees a fear broker speaking on television, to say to yourself: "that person wants to control me with fear" (p. 167).

Stout places a strong emphasis on responsibility for oneself when it comes to fear. She encourages the reader to have courage to face one's fear by putting into action from knowing how fear was manifested in themselves and how it was being used. Politicians are using fear to keep people in check and under their control, but it does not have to be that way. In regards to nations, Stout has pointed out:

"If fear holds a democratic nation in thrall in the long term, causing the greater portion of its citizens to avoid thinking for themselves indefinitely, the best psychological prediction is that democracy will decline and eventually die." (p. 201)

She also stressed that by giving into fear, by letting it affect us, we are letting the the fear brokers (e.g., our authoritarian leaders) to control us. In a sense, we are letting them to control our paranoia switch.

By looking briefly at what are terrorism, limbic war and fear brokers from Martha Stout's The Paranoia Switch, there is an understanding about how politician leaders used public's fear to pursue their very own personal agenda. This book is most certainly insightful and essential. To understand how power-hungry and psychopathic leaders control the public's mind, Stout's Paranoia Switch will give you the answers. Stout's unique research has helped me to better understand the role of fear and terror in our lives. It is my humble opinion to recommend this book for the readers.

Respectfully, I give high praises to Martha Stout for her unique perspective and bringing her work to us.