For reader's groups reading Mom's Marijuana Dr. Shapiro will happily speak with reader's groups using speaker phones. Please call to find a convenient time

Discussion questions from Dr. Shapiro

1. The editor of the book, Shaye Areheart, wrote the subtitle to the book, Insights About Living. What do you think the insights are?
   
   
2. Many people with illness remind us that stopping to smell the flowers is the most impressive learning that comes with illness. I hope this book communicates this, but I also hope it communicates about other themes. Which learnings most impress you? When you've known other people with illness, what have they learned? What have you learned from yours?
   
   
3. For many people, spirituality is a core healing force. In this book, I do not discuss religon as a healing force, but did feel that a few times I was writing about spitrituality. Which parts of the book feel spiritual to you?
   
   
4. My mother is vehemently anti-drug, yet she harvested those plants in our garden. Do you respect this decision? What do you think we learned from it? What could you make you act in a way that ran counter to your deepest held convictions?
   
   
5. I've long suspected that physicians should be trained differently than they are. Many of the physicians portrayed in the book are not heroic. How would you train them differently? What exactly would you do?
   
   
6. As a psychologist who works clinically with many ill patients, and as a person with a history of illness, I've wondered which psychological variables improve a person's chances of succeeding in the face of illness. Which factors impress you the most?
   
   
7. What would you take with you onto a bone marrow transplant unit? Why?
   
   
8. Many of Terry's coworkers warned her not to get involved with me. In fact, many of us have learned to avoid certain types of people to protect ourselves. When is protection useful? When can it harm us?

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Last updated April 18, 2003