The ‘Mind’ Book Club

The Courage To Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi 

Think you can control your destiny regardless of past experiences and others’ expectations? So does Ichiro Kishimi, the brains behind the Japanese bestseller ‘The Courage To Be Disliked’. In this book, it takes the theories of famed Austrian psychoanalyst Alfred Adler by framing self-navigation on external behaviour. This can be treating others as equals, not above or below us, so that we can be liberated to find ourselves and lasting happiness in this freeing feeling. Once you realise all your problems are rooted in interpersonal relationships, you can break free once and for all from the approval of others. By redefining hierarchy, one can change their life for the better and go forward away from past experiences, self-doubt, and expectations of the world around us. This book allows all the explorations into these theories to become highly accessible, and has only just been published for the first time in English. And, quite frankly, in the digital world where ‘mindset’ motivation disregards community and the value of others, this is the ultimate antidote to truly helping not just yourself but the world around you. Who doesn’t want to find greater freedom and happiness after all? 

Inner Sense: How the New Science of Interoception Can Transform Your Health by Caroline Williams 

What is interoception? Well, one of our most mysterious senses. It tells our bodies how we feel, whether that be hot or cold, full or hungry, awake or sleepy. Most importantly, it tells us how we should respond to stress. It’s how brain scientists mapping out the nervous system meet with neurodivergent researchers and health practitioners to carve out a new space in wellbeing, and author Caroline Williams covers it all. From mindfulness to eating habits to panic attack disorders, interoception and our inner senses could be the answer to moving towards a more helpful solution. In this book, Williams traces groundbreaking techniques that combine science, mindfulness, physical therapy, and even medicine. 

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
What will happen when the next generation, raised on iPhones and social media, grows up? It is a question that has plagued all those who came before them, and as they grow into adults, we are slowly seeing the results. Jonathan Haidt examines new stats and research in ‘The Anxious Generation’, questioning why mental health figures in young people suddenly rose to an all-time high in the early 2010s. The Social Psychologist delves into the world of digital connection and the lack thereof in face-to-face communication, finding two profound results. From differences in dumb phones to smart phones, girls to boys, teens to childhood, this book reaches into psychoanalytical theory and reframes it for the future generation. Anyone who is on social media, uses a phone, or knows someone who does, should take a read at the effects it will have on the population in the future and rewire our brains according to Haidt’s proven methods.