Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-387) and index.

A HUMAN MYSTERY. The terrible master ; Capture ; The nature of mental distress ; The search for a common mechanism -- THE HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT OF CAPTURE. William James and attention ; Freud and drive ; The science underlying capture -- WHAT CAPTURES?. A continuum from the ordinary to mental illness ; Rejection ; A brutish father ; Drink ; Physical pain ; Childhood trauma ; Blind love ; Obscene fascination ; Gambling ; The body ; A work of art ; Death ; A threat ; Two addicts ; Control ; Sadness ; Grandeur ; Abandonment ; Going mad ; Accumulation of burdens ; A unified theory -- WHEN CAPTURE TURNS ON THE SELF. David Foster Wallace -- WHEN CAPTURE LEADS TO VIOLENCE. Striking out ; The assassination of Robert Kennedy ; The Columbine school shootings ; The murder of John Lennon ; The murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School ; A theory of human capital -- CAPTURE AND IDEOLOGY. The America I have seen ; The obligation of our time ; I'm going traveling ; @SlaveOfAllah -- CAPTURE AND SPIRITUALITY. Capture by the divine ; Paying attention ; Captured by a message ; The revelation of nature -- CAPTURE AND CHANGE. Martin Luther's "Anfechtungen" ; Meaningful association ; Moments of clarity ; A creative life ; Compelled to be different ; Being in the right place ; Distracting the black dog ; Belief ; "Good-bye to All That" ; Reconciliation and forgiveness ; A toolkit borrowed from Buddhism ; Is there freedom from capture? ; A modest form of autonomy.