The most powerful element in human life is the interpersonal relationship. And what influences relationships most is the character of the individuals involved. One of the most overlooked and neglected basic necessities of modern society is high quality of character. Today we see in our everyday life the dear price we are paying for this neglect. Society is witnessing the drastic increase in mental disorders including panic disorder and other anxiety disorders, depression, loneliness, suicides, homicides - including mass shootings, drug abuse and overdose deaths. And we cannot ignore that some recent and present world leaders exhibit signs of character disorders, especially narcissism, and the excruciating pain and turmoil caused by them globally.
Damian Kim, a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Buddhist, believes there are two causes for this explosion in mental disorders: one is the neglect of the invisible mind, which leads to character disorder; the other is the rapid progress of digitalization forcing people to look at the screens of computers, cellphones, and tablets instead of interacting with other people or paying attention to their own thoughts. Unfortunately, mental health professionals who should be on the frontlines to reverse these trends may actually be accelerating them. If efforts don't begin now to stem and reverse these disastrous trends, humankind is facing a drastic increase of overly self-confident, braggadocious, entitled, callous, self-centered, arrogant, proud, unethical, overly intellectual, cold, materialistic, unsympathetic, and erratic individuals making everyone's life and society miserable.
Dr. Kim's book begins the long overdue task of stemming these destructive developments by bearing witness to them in examples from everyday life and in numerous media reports as well as academic studies. Next he describes the theory and debates about the existence of character disorders. And finally, he makes prescriptions for how to heal society. Although it may be a daunting task, Dr. Kim strongly believes in the possibility of steering society in a positive direction if everyone joins together and makes the effort to bring about change.
Cherish the Invisible Mind is a simple, concise, easy to understand commentary on an alarming trend in society with clear explanations of these issues and recommendations for everyone - layperson or professional - to rescue humanity and mental health and improve personal growth.
