Aging-related Books and other Publications

The Longevity Bible

Dr. Gary Small explains the science behind the EIGHT ESSENTIALS for keeping your mind sharp and your body young, and offers concise, easy-to-follow steps for integrating them into your daily life.

1. Mental Aerobics cross train your brain to significantly improve memory skills and brain efficiency. If you fix your brain for longevity, your body will follow in kind.
2. Positive Thinking boosts the body’s immune system, which is why optimists have fewer physical and emotional difficulties, less pain and higher energy levels.
3. Socially Connected people survive up to 20 percent longer. A healthy sex life at every age helps lower blood pressure, reduce stress and depression, boost the immune system, and extend life expectancy.
4. Stress is among the leading causes of age-related disease, and your ability to adopt Stress Busters will not only help you feel and look better, but also live longer.
5. Whether it’s traffic, smoke, clutter, noise, mold, smog, or information over-load, quality longevity depends upon your ability to adapt to and control your environmental influences.
6. The Longevity Fitness Routine combines cardiovascular conditioning, balance and flexibility, and strength training to maximize health, boost energy levels, and prevent age-related diseases.
7. Eat all of your favorite foods—including desserts— and break free of today’s fashionable diets by learning to eat delicious and healthy foods in realistic portions, while feeling anything but deprived.
8. From smart drugs to Botox to microscopic lasers, the Longevity Bible reveals the latest in medicines and treatments to keep you looking and feeling young.

The Memory Bible

We all forget things sometimes - our keys, a phone number, the reason we went to the market - and it only increases as we age. According to Dr. Gary Small, director of the UCLA Longevity Center, we can easily eliminate much of this forgetfulness with his innovative memory exercises and brain fitness program - now available for the first time in a book. Based on Dr. Small's recent scientific discoveries, The Memory Bible can immediately improve your mental performance. And by understanding the newest research on how food, medicines, exercise, alcohol, stress, and many other lifestyle choices directly affect the aging of our brains, we can begin to make more informed decisions to prevent memory loss and keep our brains young. One of Dr. Small's pioneering strategies is LOOK, SNAP, CONNECT. If practiced on a daily basis, these steps will improve your memory in a short time:

1. LOOK: actively observe what you want to learn
2. SNAP: create a vivid mental snap-shot and memorable image
3. CONNECT: visualize a link to associate images

In addition, Dr. Small's comprehensive program includes a "brain diet" of memory-protective foods, a guide to the most effective drugs and treatments available, and a workbook with a weekly and daily calendar.

Maintaining memory fitness is as vital as staying physically fit, and this book's program of memory training and mental aerobics will improve your memory ability now and help keep your brain young for years to come.

Handbook of the Psychology of Aging

by James E. Birren, Ph.D.

The Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, provides a comprehensive summary and evaluation of recent research on the psychological aspects of aging. The 22 chapters are organized into four divisions: Concepts, Theories, and Methods in the Psychology of Aging; Biological and Social Influences on Aging; Behavioral Processes and Aging; and Complex Behavioral Concepts and Processes in Aging.

The Handbook will be of use to researchers and professional practitioners working with the aged. It is also suitable for use as a textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses on the psychology of aging.

Handbook of Mental Health and Aging

by James E. Birren, Ph.D.

This book is a thorough revision of one of the most comprehensive reference volumes for persons working in the area of aging and mental health. The thrust of the work is interdisciplinary, and discusses research on both clinical and practical issues in aging and mental health.

The multidisciplinary nature of this book and the inclusion of subject matter from the professional as well as research realm result in a level of comprehensiveness which is distinct in the field of mental health and aging
Each chapter contains a comprehensive bibliography, the compilation of which represents a definitive reference source in the field
The chapters review state-of-the-art research in the biological, behavioral, and social sciences and represent the cutting-edge of current practice in psychiatry, neurology, social work, nursing, psychology, and pharmacology, among other professions
The compilation of prevalence data is a much-needed addition to the current literature
The multidisciplinary nature of this book and the inclusion of both clinical and practical issues makes the book distinctively comprehensive.

Telling Stories of Life Through Guided Autobiography Groups

by James E. Birren, Ph.D. and Kathryn N. Cochran

Telling the Stories of Life through Guided Autobiography Groups, based on James Birren's 25 years of experience, discusses all the topics an organizer faces while developing a program for adults who want to recall and write down their life histories. This book is ideal for adult education programs, church groups, social workers, psychologists, gerontologists, and others who work with adults who might be interested in exploring, recording, or sharing their personal histories. It helps professionals and trained workshop leaders at community centers, senior centers, schools and other settings guide group participants in exploring major themes of their lives so that they can organize and write their stories and share them in a group with others on the same journey. This exercise is rewarding for adults of any age in a period of transition or with interest in gaining insight from their own stories. Personal development and a feeling of connection to other participants and their stories is a natural outcome of this process. This book provides background material and detailed lesson plans for those who wish to develop and lead an autobiography group.

The authors explain the concept of guided autobiography, discuss the benefits to the group participants, and provide logistical information on how to plan, organize, and set up a group. An appendix provides exercises, handouts, and suggested adaptations for specific groups. The book also explains a systematic method of priming memories, including the history of family and of one's life work, the role of money, health and the body, and ideas about death.

At a time when rapid change has created a widespread yearning to write down and exchange personal accounts, sharing life stories can reveal a great deal about how we have come to be the persons we are. Telling the Stories of Life through Guided Autobiography Groups shows how to organize, record, and share life experiences through a proven and effective technique.

The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head is a spellbinding record of Dr. Small's most bewildering cases, from naked headstands and hysterical blindness to fainting schoolgirls and self-amputations. It is an illuminating journey into the mind of a practicing psychiatrist and his life in medicine as it evolves over time - a behind-the scenes look at the field and a variety of mental diseases as they've never been seen or diagnosed before. You'll find yourself exploring the puzzling eccentricities that make us human.

Often funny, sometimes tragic, and always compelling, Dr. Small takes you on a tour of his career that moves from the halls of a crowded inner-city Boston emergency room to the multi-million dollar ski lodges of the nation's elite.