Have you ever wondered why, in a world of more choice, more comfort, and more access than ever before… so many of us feel more restless?

This month’s Book of the Month is Dopamine Nation by Dr Anna Lembke – a fascinating exploration of how pain and pleasure share the same circuitry in the brain.

Lembke explains how we’re living in an age of unprecedented dopamine stimulation. Constant reward, novelty, and intensity, and how that very abundance can tip us into imbalance.

What struck me most is how she links individual craving to something much bigger: culture, scarcity mindset, and the environments we live in.

It’s not just about addiction.
It’s about how modern life shapes our nervous systems.

Have you read it, or noticed this in your own life?

A gentle, evidence-based exploration of how forgiveness isn’t just a moral or emotional choice but a physiological one too.

Luskin looks at what happens in the body and brain when we hold on to blame, resentment, and grievance… and what begins to shift when we don’t.

What struck me most is how forgiveness here isn’t framed as excusing, forgetting, or reconciling but as reclaiming peace from experiences that would otherwise continue to live inside the system.

It’s less about what others deserve…
and more about what your nervous system needs.

Have you ever thought about forgiveness in this way before?

Have you ever noticed how pain seems to take over your whole world, even when doctors can’t find a clear cause?

This month’s Book of the Month is “Back in Control” by Dr David Hanscom.

As a spine surgeon, Hanscom spent years treating patients with complex pain, until he faced his own. What he discovered was transformative – that chronic pain isn’t just about damaged tissue or nerves, but about the patterns our brains learn in response to threat, fear, and stress.

He shares how unprocessed emotions, anxiety, and past trauma can keep the nervous system in a constant state of alarm, amplifying pain long after an injury has healed.

What stood out most to me is how hope-filled his message is – that through calming the nervous system through better self-care, expressing emotions especially those we suppress, and re-framing thoughts, we can actually retrain the brain to turn the volume down on pain.

This month’s Book of the Month – “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art” by James Nestor – dives deep into the simple act that keeps us alive and how we might be doing it all wrong.

Nestor explores the fascinating science of breathing and how our modern habits, from processed foods to constant stress, have literally reshaped our faces, narrowed our airways, and changed the way we take in air.

What struck me most is how something so basic can have such profound psychological and physical effects. From anxiety and sleep, to focus and emotional regulation – the way we breathe shapes the way we feel.

The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O’Sullivan is a thought-provoking look at how modern medicine increasingly places us into diagnostic boxes.

On one hand, medical and psychological diagnoses can be profoundly validating – offering clarity, community, and language for struggles that once felt isolating. But as O’Sullivan explores, labels can also have unintended consequences. They may subtly reshape how we see ourselves, focus our attention on symptoms we might otherwise have dismissed, or even create anxiety about conditions we may never develop.

The book asks difficult but important questions:
→ What does it mean when sadness or worry become pathologised?
→ How does technology change our relationship to health when it can predict risks that may never unfold?
→ And are we paying enough attention to the social and psychological factors that shape our wellbeing – not just the biological?

Do you really know what’s in your food – and how it could be influencing your thoughts, emotions, and behaviour?

In this fascinating read, Chris – a doctor and broadcaster, unpacks how ultra-processed foods (UPFs) don’t just affect our bodies… they also impact our brains, decision-making, and emotional wellbeing.

As a clinical psychologist, I’m particularly interested in how food choices are shaped not just by willpower, but by powerful biological and psychological forces – many of which we’re not even aware of. This book highlights how our environment and the food industry can subtly influence our behaviour, making change more complex (but not impossible).