“Self-loathing is a dark land studded with booby traps. Fumbling through its dark underbrush, we cannot see what our trouble actually is: that we are mistaken about ourselves. That we were told lies long ago that we, in love and loyalty and fear, believed. Will we believe ourselves to death?” —from Unworthy As someone who has struggled with low self-esteem her entire life, Anneli Rufus knows only too well how the world looks through the eyes of those who are not comfortable in their own skin. In Unworthy, Rufus boldly explores how a lack of faith in ourselves can turn us into our own worst enemies. Drawing on extensive research, enlightening interviews, and her own poignant experiences, Rufus considers the question: What personal, societal, biological, and historical factors coalesced to spark this secret epidemic, and what can be done to put a stop to it? She reveals the underlying sources of low self-esteem and leads us through strategies for positive change.

Self-Loathing for Beginners is a wickedly funny take on our relentlessly upbeat self-improvement culture. Breaking ranks with the happiness police who have convinced us that self-loathing is just one more thing to hate about ourselves, author Lynn Phillips will show you, the beginning self-loather, how to self-loathe properly. By studying this book’s mini-essays, Q&As, mantras, and tips from self-loathing masters, you will learn the most effective ways to develop your self-loathing potential. Whether you are sabotaging your career, bungling a relationship, or cheating on the latest fad diet, Self-Loathing for Beginners is the essential primer on how best to despise yourself!

Self-Loathing for Beginners is a wickedly funny take on our relentlessly upbeat self-improvement culture. Breaking ranks with the happiness police who have convinced us that self-loathing is just one more thing to hate about ourselves, author Lynn Phillips will show you, the beginning self-loather, how to self-loathe properly. By studying this book’s mini-essays, Q&As, mantras, and tips from self-loathing masters, you will learn the most effective ways to develop your self-loathing potential. Whether you are sabotaging your career, bungling a relationship, or cheating on the latest fad diet, Self-Loathing for Beginners is the essential primer on how best to despise yourself!

A new intellectual history that looks at "Jewish self-hatred" Today, the term "Jewish self-hatred" often denotes a treasonous brand of Jewish self-loathing, and is frequently used as a smear, such as when it is applied to politically moderate Jews who are critical of Israel. In On the Origins of Jewish Self-Hatred, Paul Reitter demonstrates that the concept of Jewish self-hatred once had decidedly positive connotations. He traces the genesis of the term to Anton Kuh, a Viennese-Jewish journalist who coined it in the aftermath of World War I, and shows how the German-Jewish philosopher Theodor Lessing came, in 1930, to write a book that popularized "Jewish self-hatred." Reitter contends that, as Kuh and Lessing used it, the concept of Jewish self-hatred described a complex and possibly redemptive way of being Jewish. Paradoxically, Jews could show the world how to get past the blight of self-hatred only by embracing their own, singularly advanced self-critical tendencies—their "Jewish self-hatred." Provocative and elegantly argued, On the Origins of Jewish Self-Hatred challenges widely held notions about the history and meaning of this idea, and explains why its history is so badly misrepresented today.

"The issue of self-hatred has very deep historical roots going way back into colonial history of the Fifteenth-century and beyond. In this text Amos Wilson details its origins as it evolved from biblical times with curse of Ham in the Old Testament up through the Middle Ages, enslavement, Jim Crow sadism and up to the present time. This experience has had long lasting impact on the creating, shaping and defining of the African American personality in particular, and the African personality worldwide. This text sets about exploring this development in its many aspects and attempts a reclamation of the African (often spelled Afrikan) mind. Herein Wilson attempts with surgical precision a remediation of this psycho-historical malady"--

David Mamet's interest in anti-Semitism is not limited to the modern face of an ancient hatred but encompasses as well the ways in which many Jews have internalized that hatred. Using the metaphor of the Wicked Son at the Passover seder (the child who asks, "What does this story mean to you?") Mamet confronts what he sees as an insidious predilection among some Jews to exclude themselves from the equation and to seek truth and meaning anywhere--in other religions, political movements, mindless entertainment--but in Judaism itself. He also explores the ways in which the Jewish tradition has long been and still remains the Wicked Son in the eyes of the world. Written with the searing honesty and verbal brilliance that is the hallmark of Mamet's work, The Wicked Son is a powerfully thought-provoking look at one of the most destructive and tenacious forces in contemporary life.

The persecutory object is the element of the personality which attacks your confidence, productivity and acceptance to the point of no return. Persecuted patients torture themselves, hurt their loved ones and torment their therapists. In this book, the authors deal with the tenacity of the persecutory object, integrating object relations and Kleinian theories in a way of working with persecutory states of mind. This is vividly illustrated in a variety of situations, including: ·individual, couple and group therapy ·serious paediatric illness ·working with persecutory aspects of family business. It is argued that the persecutory object can be contained, modified, and in many cases detoxified by the process of skilful intensive psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Self Hatred in Psychoanalysis will be invaluable to a variety of practitioners including psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, social workers, psychiatrists and mental health counsellors.

For fans of THE ROSIE PROJECT and THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME, a broken man and his damaged robot build an unlikely friendship—with some assembly required. Ben's really great at failing at things—his job, being a husband, taking the garbage out. But then he finds a battered robot named Tang in his garden. And Tang needs Ben. More ornery and prone to tantrums than one would expect from something made of gears and springs, Tang desperately must be fixed—and he just might be the thing to fix what's broken in Ben. Together they will discover that friendship can rise up under the strangest of circumstances, and what it really means to be human. Funny, touching, charming, wise, and a bit unusual, A Robot in the Garden is a gem of a first novel, perfect for anyone who has ever found it difficult to connection with the world. "Our hero is a FANTASTIC and UNFORGETTABLE creation, and so is this absolute marvel of a novel."—Neil Smith, author of Bang Crunch and Boo "An inventive and utterly charming tale...heartwarming."—Booklist, Starred Review

Become your own greatest advocate with this “wise guide” to developing self-compassion through mindfulness meditation, lovingkindness, and more—from a Buddhist scholar and teacher (Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance) We all long for someone to offer us unconditional love and support. But what if that person is us? The practice of mindful self-compassion creates the space we need so that observation, acceptance, and real love can enter—no matter how judgmental or disconnected we may feel. It sounds like a simple idea: to be kind to yourself. But if you pay attention to your thoughts, habits, and self-talk, you may find that it’s more difficult than it sounds. The intentional practice of self-compassion, outlined here by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Bodhipaksa, can help you find greater overall wellbeing, emotional resilience, physical health, and willpower. Bodhipaksa provides both the why and the how of mindful self-compassion, drawing on contemporary psychology and neuroscience and also on Buddhist psychology, weaving the modern and ancient together into a coherent whole. Contemporary psychologists are focusing less on self-esteem and more on self-compassion. Bodhipaksa, a practicing meditator of more than thirty years, effortlessly blends ancient techniques dating back to the time of the Buddha with the most recent understanding of psychology and neuroscience. And in the end, as Bodhipaksa writes, it is actually quite simple: “Life is short. Be kind.”