New Releases by Patrick J. Kennedy

Profiles in Mental Health Courage portrays the dramatic journeys of a diverse group of Americans who have struggled with their mental health. This book offers deeply compelling stories about the bravery and resilience of those living with a variety of mental illnesses and addictions. Several years ago, Patrick J. Kennedy shared the story of his personal and family challenges with mental illness and addiction—and the nation’s—in his bestselling memoir, A Common Struggle. Now, he and his Common Struggle coauthor, award-winning healthcare journalist Stephen Fried, have crafted this powerful new book sharing the untold stories of others—a special group who agreed to talk about their illnesses, treatments, and struggles for the first time. When Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, published his classic book Profiles in Courage, he hoped to inspire “political courage” by telling the stories of brave U.S. senators who changed America. In Profiles in Mental Health Courage, former Congressman Kennedy adapts his uncle’s idea to inspire the “mental health courage” it takes for those with these conditions to treat their illnesses, and risk telling their stories to help America face its crisis in our families, our workplaces, our jails, and on our streets. The resounding silence surrounding these illnesses remains persistent, and this book takes an unflinching look at the experience of mental illness and addiction that inspires profound connection, empathy, and action. In this book, you’ll meet people of all ages, backgrounds, and futures, across politics and government, Hollywood and the arts, tech and business, sports and science—some recovering, some relapsing, some just barely holding on, but all sharing experiences and insights we need to better understand. You’ll also meet those trying to help them through—parents, siblings, spouses, therapists, bosses, doctors, and friends who create the extended families needed to support care and wellness. The personal stories they share with Kennedy and Fried are intimate, sometimes shocking, always revealing. And they are essential reading for caregivers, family members, policymakers, and the general public—just as they are for those who often feel alone in experiencing these challenges themselves.

We analyze the impacts of the 2018 trade war on the U.S. economy. We estimate import demand and export supply elasticities using changes in U.S. and retaliatory tariffs over time. Imports from targeted countries declined 31.5% within products, while targeted U.S. exports fell 11.0%. We find complete pass-through of U.S. tariffs to variety-level import prices. Using a general equilibrium framework that matches these elasticities, we compute the aggregate and regional impacts. Annual consumer and producer losses from higher costs of imports were $68.8 billion (0.37% of GDP). After accounting for higher tariff revenue and gains to domestic producers from higher prices, the aggregate welfare loss was $7.8 billion (0.04% of GDP). U.S. tariffs favored sectors located in politically competitive counties, but retaliatory tariffs offset the benefits to these counties. We find that tradeable-sector workers in heavily Republican counties were the most negatively affected by the trade war.

"This thesis analyzes the origins of World War I and today’s US-China relationship within a worldview consisting of four factors that increase the risk of great power war. Prior to World War I, four signposts were prevalent—a hegemonic challenger, a power imbalance, a series of repeated crises, and entangling alliances. These signposts made great power war more likely during the 1914 July Crisis. Nuclear weapons, a different international order, and geography are clear differences in this historical analogy. However, the four basic factors are evident in today’s Asian-Pacific region. A worldview that ignores the increased risk of great power conflict will leave leaders with strategic blind spots and, ultimately, failure. Great power conflict has not gone away."--Abstract.

In this New York Times bestseller Patrick J. Kennedy, the former congressman and youngest child of Senator Ted Kennedy, details his personal and political battle with mental illness and addiction, exploring mental health care''s history in the country alongside his and every family''s private struggles. On May 5, 2006, the New York Times ran two stories, “Patrick Kennedy Crashes Car into Capitol Barrier” and then, several hours later, “Patrick Kennedy Says He''ll Seek Help for Addiction.” It was the first time that the popular Rhode Island congressman had publicly disclosed his addiction to prescription painkillers, the true extent of his struggle with bipolar disorder and his plan to immediately seek treatment. That could have been the end of his career, but instead it was the beginning. Since then, Kennedy has become the nation’s leading advocate for mental health and substance abuse care, research and policy both in and out of Congress. And ever since passing the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act—and after the death of his father, leaving Congress—he has been changing the dialogue that surrounds all brain diseases. A Common Struggle weaves together Kennedy''s private and professional narratives, echoing Kennedy''s philosophy that for him, the personal is political and the political personal. Focusing on the years from his ''coming out'' about suffering from bipolar disorder and addiction to the present day, the book examines Kennedy''s journey toward recovery and reflects on Americans'' propensity to treat mental illnesses as "family secrets." Beyond his own story, though, Kennedy creates a roadmap for equality in the mental health community, and outlines a bold plan for the future of mental health policy. Written with award-winning healthcare journalist and best-selling author Stephen Fried, A Common Struggle is both a cry for empathy and a call to action.

"The current fixation on anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) blinds US military planners to the sophistication of China''s approach to strategy and falls prey to reflexive control manipulation. Reflexive control is an indirect means to maintain control over opponents by influencing their decision-making process. The influence comes from conveying specific information and/or actions to drive a predetermined decision. China''s strategy is a multidimensional approach that adeptly blends non-kinetic forms of warfare with a modernized military that has brought tensions in the Pacific to heights not seen since World War II. The Chinese Communist Party''s (CCP) increasing assertiveness affects several key aspects of US strategic level planning by diverting attention away from China''s greatest vulnerability -- the Indian Ocean. Described by former President Hu Jintao in 2004 as the ''Malacca problem,'' the Indian Ocean controls the flow of an estimated 80 percent of China''s imported oil. The PRC''s development of potent A2/AD systems is only part of a much more elaborate strategy that exploits America''s instinctive predisposition to solve technological problems with more technology. The United States, however, has neither the fiscal nor military capacity to solve the problem sets inherent in the Pacific''s future operational environment. As a result, the United States should examine an alternative strategy... This analysis recommends that the United States investigate using an A2/AD scheme of maneuver in the Pacific and combine this action with deterrence options in the Indian Ocean."--Abstract.

"Fantastic Divorced Dads! is a concise and practical guide that helps newly divorced dads create better relationships with their children than ever before" -- http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Divorced-Dads-Successful-Parenting/dp/1502585553/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430239182&sr=8-1&keywords=9781502585554

Since he was a teenager, Patrick Kennedy has battled depression and addictions. For years, he hid it from everyone: the stigma was too great, not just for him but for his family, themselves no strangers to problems of addiction. Now, he is coming clean. Patrick first ran for office in Rhode Island at age 21, and went on to win eleven straight elections, including eight terms in the U.S. House--the most electoral victories of anyone in the entire Kennedy family. Yet for much of his career, even as a prominent member of Congress, Patrick self-medicated wtih drugs and alcohol. On May 4, 2006, he crashed his car in the early morning hours near the Capitol, and his public image began to crack. This book is the first step in a campaign not just for one man, but for every family touched by mental illness and addiction: a spare-no-details, utterly honest memoir of growing up a Kennedy in the spotlight of constant public scrutiny, while secretly suffering. By telling his story, Patrick is embarking on a fight on behalf of everyone who suffers as he did, or indeed with any brain disorder.