Today I’m talking with friend and fellow
writer, Dr. Ruth Leyse-Wallace, author of Nutrition and Mental Health.
Welcome, Ruth. Please tell us where you live?
Since
2002 I have lived in Alpine, California which is on the east edge of San Diego
County.
How long have
you been writing?
My
first publications were in the early 1980s and continued rather sporadically
until around 2004. At that time I buckled down and started writing my first
book. I had just retired, had a supportive husband, and a file full of material
about the links between mental health and nutrition that I had been telling
myself “someone” ought to write about. In 2004 I decided that “someone” was me
and the time was right for such a book to be published. I joined The San Diego
Writers/Editors Guild, heard about self-publishing, and sat down at the
computer.
What type of
writing do you normally do?
I
really enjoy working on non-fiction -- either in my professional area of
expertise or memoir/life story/family tree writing for my children and
grandchildren. I’ve also written a few articles about the time I owned and
piloted my own hot air balloon.
Give a brief
synopsis of Nutrition and Mental Health?
Nutrition and Mental Health is an
introduction to the research and ideas behind the concept that nutrients and
nutritional status affect mental health/status/well-being. I have reviewed scientific research from
hundreds of journals and scientists to summarize the topics, the findings, the
continuing questions, and the incorporation of nutritional assessment into
current psychological and psychiatric health care. The research includes
specific nutrients (vitamins minerals, fatty acids, supplements, etc) and the
effect of dieting, and mental health issues of ADHD, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s,
Disease, bipolar disorder, caffeinism, depression, eating disorders,
schizophrenia, stress, violence, etc.
It
is phenomenal how much is known and how much research is done on these topics.
Genetics and environmental issues are additional factors that are being related
to the fields of nutrition and mental health. I coined the term The
PsychoNutriologic Person, which is defined as any individual who has concerns
related to nutrition and to mental well-being that interact and influence the
quality of life.
What are your
qualifications to write this book?
I
practiced clinical dietetics in psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse
programs, and eating disorder treatment programs for thirty years. I have
always read professional journals and books that report on new research, copied
or clipped out articles, attended workshops and conferences, and kept the
notes. When I decided to go back to graduate school at age fifty-one to see if
I still had it in me to achieve a life-time goal of earning a doctorate degree
that included learning the process of researching and writing scholarly papers.
I received my doctorate degree in 1998.
What prompted
you to write it?
My
files were full and I was passionate about getting that knowledge out to
professionals and patients who would benefit by knowing this information. The
public and professionals alike had become educated in the effect of nutrition
on physical health: it was time to feed and integrate the
separate interests in nutrition and mental health! Things were coming together in my personal
life, in the public interest, and in health care. It was time to write this
book! I felt a sense of destiny and life purpose about it. A
publisher was interested, felt it was timely, and was convinced by my earlier
self-published book, Linking Nutrition to Mental Health, that I could do
it.
How long did it
take to write it?
I
told the publisher, it would take about 2 ½ years, but it was ready to submit
several months early.
Do you have a
favorite chapter from the book?
A most amazing chapter for me
was to learn about the work with incarcerated juveniles and the seeming
relationship of poor nutrition on hostility, aggressiveness and violence. I
read about the eating habits of today’s youth and then about the level of
violence in today’s world and the lack of available food in many places. I
wondered that if everyone around the world had adequate, nutritious food, might
such hostility actually go down?
Is it published
and, if so, when and by whom?
It
was published by CRC Press, a division of Taylor and Francis, Inc. The
publication date was late January, 2013.
How can my
readers get a copy?
It
can be ordered from the publisher or from www.amazon.com . Any book store could
order a copy if it isn’t on the shelf.
What do you do
besides write?
I
spend quality time with my four-year-old-granddaughter, son and
daughter-in-law, who live not far away.
I enjoy growing a variety of flowers in my yard, from amaryllis, bird of
paradise, to shamrocks, etc. I have
always been an avid reader, and am currently a member of a discussion group
reading our third series from the Great Books Foundation. I spent a fair amount
of time and energy acting as the President of The San Diego Writers/Editors
Guild during 2012 and am continuing in that position in 2013. Some day I may
follow-up on my wish to join a drumming circle.
What is your
advice to would-be writers?
Write
about what you are passionate about, where your intense interest lies. When you
have something you want to say, it is easy to sit down every day and work on
getting it said. Actually it is easier
to sit down and write than doing other things when ideas are coming and you
want to get them down before you forget them.
What do you wish
you knew when you started your writing career?
If
I had known how good it would feel to have in your hand a book you wrote, and
have people want to buy it and read it, I may have started earlier!
What’s next for
you?
I
want to learn how to self-publish on the web, resume blogging on my nutrition
and mental health blog, learn how to self-manage my website, and perhaps write
more focused articles for journals and magazines. I enjoy speaking, teaching, and spreading the
word on nutrition and mental health, so I hope I have an opportunity to
continue. And, of course, I’ll keep on
filing!
Thank you, Ruth. It's been a pleasure.
Today's Quote: Life is the sum of all your choices. Albert Camus
