On his journey from despair to fame as one of America's foremost novelists, Conrad Richter discovered psycho-energics. A key to the way the body uses energy, it explained not only his early nervous problems but the mysteries of the life process. Acclaimed in the 1920's, the theories vanished into limbo. Now Richter's daughter, herself a writer and a Ph.D., has expanded psycho-energics in the context of the new science. Still as revolutionary as they were when Richter discovered them, the theories shed new light on consciousness and dreams; on illness and pain; on neurosis and addiction. They reveal the enormous energy potentials of language, myth, ritual, music, and art. And they show not only the positive ways the organism can release energy, but the deadly borrowings from vital centers which result in sickness, depression, drug dependencies, even suicide. Written in a way that the reader can easily follow, they offer wise counsel for coping with today's stress as well as new, challenging areas of research for psychologist and physician. And they open a window into the individual's own mechanism so he can better understand and manage his life and health.