American mania : when more is not enough / Peter C. Whybrow.

"In the world's most affluent nation, epidemic rates of stress, anxiety, depression, obesity, and time urgency are now grudgingly accepted as part of everyday existence. Behavioral scientist Whybrow grounds the extraordinary achievements and excessive consumption of the American nation in an understanding of the biology of human craving and the reward system of the brain--offering a comprehensive explanation for the addictive mania of consumerism. His analysis combines reflection on the roots of American culture as a laissez-faire, competitive, free-market economy with an exploration of the nation's migrant temperament and its role in the creation of our ambitious, restless society, to shed light on the dangerous misfit between our consumer-driven culture and the brain systems that evolved to deal with privation thousands of years ago."-- From publisher description.