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).

This month, I’m reading ‘The Angel and the Assassin’ by science journalist Donna Jackson Nakazawa – a fascinating deep-dive into how a little-known cell in the brain, called microglia, may be playing a much bigger role in mental health than we once thought.

Nakazawa speaks about how inflammation in the brain could be linked to conditions like depression, anxiety, and PTSD – and why calming this response might hold the key to emotional healing.

“The same cells that can protect the brain can also drive its suffering,” she writes- referring to how this cell is related to the newly identified immune system of the brain that both helps fight for brain health but can also go haywire and create harmful neuro-inflammation. Though once believed that only the body has an immune system, the research into this cell now shows a mimicking of body immune responses within the brain also, by a separate but similar system that communicates with the body. It’s a powerful reminder that our brain and body aren’t separate systems, but part of the same intricate, intelligent whole.

This month, I’m diving into The Power of Hormones by physician-scientist Dr Max Nieuwdorp, a fascinating look at how our internal chemical messengers quietly shape our mood, memory, energy, and sense of self.

Nieuwdorp invites us to look at hormones not just as biological regulators, but as central players in our emotional and psychological well-being. Drawing from decades of clinical insight, he explores how even subtle imbalances can ripple through our mental landscape, influencing everything from mood swings and anxiety, to brain fog and fatigue.

“Hormones don’t just regulate our bodies, they help shape our sense of self,” he writes. This reminds us that mind and body are not separate systems, but deeply intertwined.

As always, throughout July, I’ll be sharing reflections and gentle prompts from this book, exploring the mind-body connection and how hormone health might quietly shape how we think, feel, and function.

‘Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder’ by physician Gabor Maté offers a revolutionary perspective on ADHD, revealing how early childhood experiences shape our attention systems and emotional regulation.

In this groundbreaking work, Maté challenges conventional wisdom by explaining how childhood attachment disruptions and environmental stressors can lead to difficulty sustaining attention, heightened sensitivity to stress, emotional dysregulation and, ultimately, a scattered relationship with your own mind.

“The purpose of symptoms is to force us to become aware of a situation that requires attention,” he writes. As a physician with ADHD himself, Maté brings both professional expertise and lived experience to this compassionate exploration.

‘Rewire: Break the Cycle, Alter Your Thoughts and Create Lasting Change’, from neuroscientist Nicole Vignola, shares insight into why we are subconsciously programmed to repeat particular habits, as well as teaches us how to rewire our brains for more positive mental wellbeing.

In her book, Nicole describes a difficult cycle in which the brain and body are flooded with stress hormones leading to…

→ Difficulty coping with our emotions
→ Anxiety
→ Being triggered more easily
→ Hypervigilance
→ Procrastination
→ Negative self-beliefs
→ Low self-esteem
→ Neglect of our basic needs
→ Unhelpful coping mechanism

…and, in turn, continued stress.

“It’s hard to make any plastic changes when you’re maladapted to stress,” she explains.

I’d highly recommend adding it to your reading list if you’ve not come across it yet!