The Balanced Brain: The Science of Mental Health

(Paperback)

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A refreshing antidote to prescriptive ideas about wellness and a profound reframing of how body and brain work together to interpret our experience of the world around us There are many routes to mental wellbeing and award-winning neuroscientist Camilla Nord is at the forefront of finding them. In this ground-breaking book, she offers a revelatory tour of the scientific and technological developments that are revolutionizing the way we think about mental health, showing why and how events - and treatments - can affect people in such different ways. In The Balanced Brain, Nord reframes mental health as an intricate, self-regulating process, one which is different for all of us. She examines a huge diversity of treatments, from therapy to medication, to show how they work, and why they sometimes don't. In doing so, she reveals how the small things we do to lift our mood during the course of a day - a piece of chocolate, a coffee, chatting to a friend - often work on the same pathways in our brain as the latest pharmacological treatments for mental health disorders. Whether they help us to manage pain, learn from experience or expend energy on the things that are important for our survival, these conscious actions are part of a complex self-regulating process that is unique to each individual and the constant backdrop to our everyday lives. Nord shows that, with so many factors at play, there are more possibilities for recovery and resilience than we might think. This book is an invitation to discover those pathways, in order to help us identify what makes each of us feel better - and why.

Reviews

A fascinating read, one that is able to make sense of unexpected connections . . . Nord makes a compelling case for rejecting any clear distinction between mental and physical illness -- Sophie McBain * The Times *
Compelling, revolutionary, compassionate . . . sharp-witted and intelligent . . . both down-to-earth and insightful . . . Nord provides an understanding of the brain which readers can leverage to conduct their own mental-health enhancing experiments -- Niamh Jimenez * The Irish Times *
Engaging, refreshingly open and fair-minded . . . Explains how our brains come to experience the world as they do, considering pain, pleasure, the mind-body connection and how events shape our outlook -- Pippa Bailey * New Statesman *
Rigorous, engagingly personal . . . provides an exciting snapshot of what we know so far about this vital organs importance for maintaining our mental health -- Peter Carty * iNews *
Compellingoptimisticher writing is masterfully nuanced in its treatment of depression, without sacrificing the clarity of her argument -- David Robson * the Observer *
Simply brilliant. This is science writing at its best. If you want to understand mental health - really understand it - read this book -- Nichola Raihani * author of The Social Instinct *
This excellent book is a breath of fresh air . . . anyone reading it will come away with a kinder, better understanding of themselves. A clear-thinking tour of the latest research from a leading mental health scientist and an accessible exploration of how our bodies and minds make us feel the way we do - for better or worse -- Lucy Foulkes * author of What Mental Illness Really Is (and what it isnt) *
Extremely relevant . . . a highly readable synthesis of the neuroscience underpinning mental health and its treatment -- Simon Baron-Cohen
Fascinating . . . Camilla Nord, one of our most original thinkers, writes compellingly about the complexities of the brain and mental health. She presents new insights from neuroscience about how the brain generates our mental state, thoughts, moods and feelings, and what happens when things go wrong. This thought-provoking book is an essential resource -- Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, author of INVENTING OURSELVES
The Balanced Brain a fascinating tour of the latest research and an examination of treatments Nords careful argument is that mental health requires a kind of homeostatis in the brain that will be influenced by different factors for everyone. It is a refreshing counterblast to many popular ideas about wellbeing -- Sarah Collins * Prospect *
A clear-eyed look at the neuroscience of mental health The Balanced Brain is an enlightening round-up of what scientists know about the workings of the brain, and how they know it * the Economist *
Nord weaves stories from her personal and professional life skilfully into a scientific analysis of the huge range of treatments available * the Financial Times Best Books of 2023 *
This brilliant first book goes into greater detail on the mental health implications of the predictive mind, as well as on the often surprising connections between the corporeal and the emotional. Youll never look at yourself the same way again * Prospect Book of the Year 2023 *
A superb introduction . . . a self-help book of sorts but in a very different class . . .sympathetically addresses questions that are frequently asked, with honesty and clarity . . . you will find useful pointers to improving your wellbeing -- Uta Frith * Booklaunch *
An empowering and enlightening book that challenges traditional notions of mental health and offers a fresh perspective on achieving well-being * BJPsych Bulletin *

Author Bio

Camilla Nord leads the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab at the University of Cambridge. Her work has been featured in the New Statesman, on Sky News and BBC Radio Four's The Naked Scientist. The Balanced Brain is her first book.