Dr. Archer is a psychiatrist with a lot of achievements. He founded the Institute for Neuropyschiatry and the psychiatric program at a hospital. He runs a free advice website, DrDaleArcher. He makes numerous television appearances. He was also a professional poker player.

Wait, what?

Dr. Archer, who has designed a system of eight human behavior traits with a scale of 1 to ‘over 10’ to describe people, is high on the ‘adventurous’ or ADHD scale. This means he has a lot of energy (he puts in an incredible amount of hours at his various jobs), he doesn’t like to get bogged down doing one thing, and he is always looking for new challenges. ADHD is normally thought of as a disorder; he is obviously using it to his advantage.

The author’s theory is that everyone has at least a little bit of all of the 8 traits- adventurous (ADHD), perfectionist (OCD), shy (social anxiety disorder), hyper-alert (generalized anxiety disorder), dramatic (histrionic), self-focused (Narcissistic), high energy (bipolar), and magical (schizophrenia)- in varying amounts. He also feels that as long as you are functional, having those traits is not a disorder but can be used as a strength. It’s when you go over 10 and become nonfunctional that the problems arise; a high energy person can do tremendous things as long as they don’t become so very high energy that a psychotic break occurs and they flip into full on mania. A perfectionist is great for detailed projects as long as they aren’t spending all their time trying to perfect something that is already perfect. A little bit of perfectionist makes us do a better job. People who are high in any particular trait should not be considered to have a mental illness unless they it is hurting them or their family.

Archer devotes a chapter to each trait and shows us examples of how the trait can hurt a person as well as things they will probably do well at. A shy person will make a miserable public speaker, while a dramatic person will be happy doing it. A high energy person will hate being in a cubicle. A person who has no outstandingly high scores in any of the traits can probably fit into most jobs easily.

The author’s basic thesis is “Make the best of who you are”. Take the questionnaires and see where you stand (and take them every now and then, because even basic traits like these change over time). You might be able to make some changes in your life that could make you happier or more productive.

I think Archer has some good ideas here. A person shouldn’t be pathologized just because their personality isn’t average. The concept of each trait appearing on a continuum rather than being simply there or not there is very appealing and sensible. I don’t think the book is very deep one, but I think it will help people. The author is like a cheerleader; I can picture him bouncing around on a stage, exhorting people to make the most of themselves. I suspect there may be eye rolling from some psychiatrists as people announce that they have diagnosed themselves using the questionnaires, but really, the more a person knows about himself the better off he is. ( )