What is the biological function of daily mood variations? What is the relationship between mood and such factors as exercise, time of day, nutrition, stress, and illness? Drawing on his own wide-ranging research concerning subjective assessments of mood and on extensive research by others, Dr. Thayer presents a comprehensive theory of normal mood states, viewing them as subjective components of two biological arousal systems, one which people find energizing, and the other which people describe as producing tension. The author explains these two mood effects in relation to a complex...

Caffeine. Candy. Sex. Shopping. Smoking. Whether we realize it or not, all of us have strategies for self-medicating ourselves when we feel threatened or overwhelmed by tension or tiredness. But why does one person respond to pressure by going for a five-mile run, while another indulges in a five-hour drinking marathon? Why do some of us crave companionship, while others just want to be alone? And what really helps most to reduce tension and increase energy, a brisk ten-minute walk, twenty minutes of meditation, or two hours of watching TV?
In this fascinating new book, nationally known...

Obesity is reaching alarming proportions. In this insightful new approach to understanding why this is happening, acclaimed mood scientist Robert Thayer offers a new appreciation of the real cause--emotional eating. But this is not just emotional eating as previously known; rather it is a new scientific analysis of exactly how different moods affect eating. He shows how unprecedented stress in society and epidemic levels of depression have led people to food as a poor means of managing mood. In this original approach, Thayer describes how people's daily energy and tension variations occur,...