Pathways to Pleasure: The Consciousness & Chemistry of Optimal Living

Pathways to Pleasure offers a new and rewarding approach to enhancing one's pleasure in everyday life - without drugs, harmful or addictive behavior, or simplistic "recipes for feeling good." Drawing on current research in psychology and the growing field of brain chemistry, Harvey Milkman and Stanley Sunderwirth provide a common-sense guide to casting off bad habits and the compulsive pursuit of passing thrills, in favor of "natural highs" and a serious quest for personal fulfillment. Milkman and Sunderwirth explain in clear language what has been learned about the role of brain chemistry in all pleasurable activities and they devote special attention to the skills and attitudes that will increase a person's ability to relax, to create, and to enjoy the pleasure that results.
Through individual accounts, Pathways to Pleasure illustrates how real people can incorporate "natural highs" into their lives through pleasurable and creative pursuits that promote health and well-being. Using the author's own Personal Pleasure Inventory, readers learn to practice a style of pleasure-seeking that fits their individual needs and can be used to develop greater intimacy and a healthier and more satisfying lifestyle. Pathways to Pleasure invites readers to discover their own lifelong path to joy and fulfillment.

Milkman and Sunderwirth, researchers in the psychology and neurochemistry of addiction, have written a guide to self-actualization. Reviewing current research in behavior and brain chemistry, they postulate the desire for pleasure and exhilaration as a primary motivating force. They demonstrate that self-induced "natural highs," triggered by healthy activities such as creative pursuits, relaxation, meditation, and exercise, produce changes in brain chemistry identical to the short-term "highs" of addictive substances but without hazardous long-term effects. Included is a test designed to identify activities for individual "natural highs" and suggestions for making such activities part of a healthy lifestyle. Recommended for popular psychology collections.
- Lucille Boone, San Jose P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.