We live in a society that is constantly trying to confine people to a box, a neat category that can be described and put in place. Unfortunately, if you don’t define your own identity, the world will try define it for you. 

Today it has become commonplace to say that some people have chemical imbalances in their brain, most notably a disruption in the proper production of dopamine for “diseases” like ADHD and serotonin for “diseases” like depression. These people, it is argued, need drugs to “cure” these chemical imbalances, hence the terms “antipsychotics” or “antidepressants”.

We all know that eating disorders can be incredibly dangerous. They have an estimated death rate of up to twelve times higher than all other causes of death combined for females between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, while recent statistics from NEDA (the National Eating Disorders Association) reveal that ‘anorexia is the third most common chronic disease among young people, after asthma and type 1 diabetes.’

There are many kinds people in the world, and some of them are more difficult to relate to than others. But what happens if someone in your life comes across as a narcissist? What is at the root of this negative behavior? 

We all have those days: everything seems to go wrong, we just cannot seem to say or do the right thing and our hopes and dreams seem to be going down the drain. At times like these it is hard to see any good in ourselves, in the people around us or the world.

Although many of us spend so much time focusing on our physical health, whether it is going to the gym, to a Pilates class or for a morning jog, we often forget to spend time working on our mental “fitness”. Yet the mind is the source of all our thoughts, words and actions; when our thinking is unhealthy, our lives will be unhealthy—even if we go to the gym seven times a week!

Let’s talk politics. Now, before you shut down your computer and switch off your smartphone, hear me out: I don’t want to discuss my political views per se. But I do want to discuss political views, or views of any kind.  

In a society dominated by how many likes you get on Instagram, how many zeros are on your paycheck, where you live, what designer you wear, how many trips to Europe you go on and what car you drive, it is sometimes hard to know what signifies success. Is it going to an Ivy League college? Or living in Beverly Hills? Or becoming a social media influencer? Or is it none of those things?

In a word dominated by the 24-hour clock, it is hard to avoid exhaustion at work. There are always a thousand things to do, a thousand tasks to complete and a thousand meetings to attend. It is difficult to learn to say no, and rest often seems more like a dream than a reality. Even if we do actually enjoy doing what we do, it is hard to be excited about getting out of bed in the morning if we do not feel able to handle the stress that the average workday entails.  

Have you ever read a section in a book, turned the page and, well, forgot what you just read? Or studied hard for an exam and struggled to recall what you spent so much time learning? Why do people struggle to remember things? Is there a way we can improve our ability to recall important information?  

Thirty years ago, I set out to answer a question that was considered at the time to be ridiculous: “can the mind change the brain?” Back in the eighties many scientists believed that a damaged brain could not change. Healthcare and therapy professionals like myself were taught to help their patients compensate for brain disabilities and mental ill health; total recovery was, for the most part, out of the question.

In recent years, neuroscience has become very popular. It is almost as though adding the prefix “neuro,” as in neuro-education, neuro-leadership, neuro-spirituality and so on, gives the method, course, program, or book more clout, thereby increasing its credibility.