Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Psychology & Mental Health

Our brain is recreating the world in its own way—most of the time for our own good: how hard would it be if, before making a choice, we had to know about all the options available in a given situation? Luckily, our brain can estimate: it allows us to reconstruct the world as we know it, and live in it. However, these very useful mechanisms can sometimes mislead us and have a rather negative impact on our actions, beliefs and opinions: when our brain behaves that way, we say it is biased. Albert Moukheiber gives us tips and tricks to fight against these cognitive biases.

The Self Illusion provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our individual concept of a self is in fact an illusion. Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body is compelling and inescapable. But that sovereignty of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of the brain advances.

Humans are often fearful of the day the world will be ruled by machines, but have they not already taken over? The average person spends 4-5 hours a day on their phone, about a third of the time they are awake. We self-interrupt our work and social lives, forgo sleep, procrastinate important tasks and opt for digital distraction when we're bored or feel uncomfortable. NHS neurology doctor and neuroscientist Faye Begeti describes what is happening in our brain when we use our phones and why we have formed so many fixed and negative habits around them.

William Burroughs closed his classic novel Junky by saying he had determined to search out a drug he called ‘Yage’, a drug that could be ‘the final fix’. In The Yage Letters, a mix of travel writing, satire, psychedelia, and epistolary novel, he journeys through South America, writing to his friend Allen Ginsberg about his experiments with the strange drug, using it to travel through time and space and derange his senses.

Burroughs’ letters reveal his desire to escape the norms of American society which hemmed him in, and the extraordinary steps he took to break free.

In this captivating fusion of science and personal memoir, writer David Adam explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind. David has suffered from OCD for twenty years, and The Man Who Couldn’t Stop is his honest attempt to understand the condition. At what point does a harmless idea become a blinding blizzard of unwanted thoughts? Drawing on the latest research on the brain, as well as historical accounts of patients and their treatments, this is an audiobook that will challenge the way you think.

Many of us believe that the best way to treat crises and challenges is to process them: to mull over and analyse the stresses, anxieties and traumas we face. But this perception is misguided. Instead, we should think of our mind as a sieve through which everything slips unless we choose to hold on to it. But how do we let go of those negative thoughts we’ve held on to which are weighing us down?

'Did you hear Amy has heartbreak?! What bad luck to catch it right at the end of winter.' When Ziella Bryars was in the midst of heartbreak, a conversation with her neuroscientist best friend changed everything. Frustrated by unhelpful advice from magazines and rom-coms, Ziella began diving deep into the latest scientific research to help her understand the pain of heartbreak and find a route to recovery. This warm and witty self-help book outlines the impact a relationship break-up has on our brains and bodies, and explores how a science-based approach can help us heal.

Over the last 500 years, life for the average human being has changed dramatically - plagues no longer wipe out entire families, and no longer do we empty our chamber pots into the street. Nope, not today. But, Western progress has shown that no matter how many dangers we neutralize, new ones emerge. Now we remain at the mercy of an invisible enemy - fear. Our well-being suffers and our imaginations are stifled.

The different ways that social change happens, from unleashing to nudging to social cascades. How does social change happen? When do social movements take off? Sexual harassment was once something that women had to endure; now a movement has risen up against it. White nationalist sentiments, on the other hand, were largely kept out of mainstream discourse; now there is no shortage of media outlets for them. In this book, with the help of behavioral economics, psychology and other fields, Cass Sunstein casts a bright new light on how change happens.

Award-winning science writer David Adam reveals how frontier neuroscience can enhance your intelligence. What if the route to better brain power is not hard work or thousands of hours of practice but to simply swallow a pill? In The Genius Within, best-selling author David Adam explores the groundbreaking neuroscience of cognitive enhancement.

Journalist and psychotherapist-in-training Moya Sarner goes on a journey into what growing up really involves, and how we do it again and again throughout our lives. She draws on case studies, as well as her training, and theories of child psychology, psychoanalysis, neuroscience and more, to explore what it means to be a ‘grown up’ and how we can meet the challenges and opportunities of every stage of our lives.

The field of mind-body medicine is plagued by wild claims that mislead patients and instil false hope. But as scientists in a range of fields uncover solid evidence that our minds influence our bodies quite profoundly, there is now great promise, too. Jo Marchant attempts to use scientific research to find out if alternative medicines work; if our thoughts, beliefs and emotions influence our physical health; and if we can train our brains to heal our bodies.

So you've decided you want to try therapy. But which type of therapy is best for you? Do you know your CBT from your DBT, your cognitive analytic therapy from your psychoanalysis? Talk Yourself Better cuts through the confusion when it comes to choosing a therapist. Exploring all the different kinds of therapy available, Ariane Sherine offers an entertaining insight into each type, including interviews with celebrities, writers and therapists themselves to help make taking that first step a whole lot easier.

Brainjacking takes us on a journey through advertising and marketing's attempts to understand and influence our thoughts and desires, from the earliest billboards to the technologies of the future. To discover how science intersects with our desires and decisions, the book pulls together three strands that have a huge impact on our lives: advertising, how much privacy we can and should have in the new electronic world, and how to draw the line been information and influence. With Brian Clegg as your guide, this is a book that will help you unpick the insidious world of brainjacking

Welsh-born psychoanalyst Ernest Jones was Sigmund Freud's closest associate and most fervent disciple. Clever, self-confident and intensely ambitious, Jones promoted psychoanalysis as a kind of secular religion. Meanwhile, his intimate friend Wilfred Trotter—a celebrated surgeon who saved the life of George V, and who took on Freud as a patient during his London exile—refused to yield to the seductions of the new Freudianism. A quintessentially English figure, Trotter was unimpressed by slick medical careerists, distrusted grand theories and lacked pomposity and self-regard.

The need for improved mental, physical and emotional wellbeing, and the ability to inspire a resilient mindset has never been greater. We were never designed to run in stress mode, and in a seemingly constant state of fight or flight. So, in those situations where we have little control over the sources of pressure, our only option is to influence the way in which we respond. Unashamedly Superhuman is a neuroscience-based peak performance training for anyone interested in reversing the impact of distraction and uncertainty.

Mindfulness is growing in popularity as a technique which teaches us to appreciate our life.This Practical Guide explores how to listen to your body to reduce stress and anxiety in all areas of your life; how to focus better at work by becoming more aware of what is happening in the present, and how to enjoy life more by bringing mindfulness into everyday actions. Free of jargon but full of straightforward advice, case studies and step-by-step instructions, this is the perfect concise start to making you happier, more focused and stress-free.

In the 2008 US election, many Americans believed Barack Obama was a Muslim. The conspiracy theory book 9/11: The Big Lie has become a best seller. Hearsay has fuelled economic boom and bust - so much so that in many places it's now a crime to circulate false rumours about banks. Why do ordinary people accept rumours, even untrue, bizarre or damaging ones? Does it matter? And, if so, what should we do about it? As Cass Sunstein shows in his brilliant analysis of the phenomenon, there are many different ways in which rumours are dispersed.

In What Do Animals Think and Feel?, the biologist Karsten Brensing has something astonishing to tell us about the animal kingdom: namely that animals, by any reasonable assessment, have developed the sophisticated systems of social organisation and behaviour that human beings call 'culture'. Dolphins call one another by name and orcas inhabit a culture that is over 700,000 years old. Chimpanzees wage strategic warfare while bonobos delight in dirty talk. Ravens enjoy snowboarding on snow-covered roofs, and snails like to spin on hamster exercise wheels.

Julia Kelly met charismatic and successful artist Charlie Whisker while she was working on her first novel. He was 20 years older than her. Their relationship was passionate and extraordinary; each of them inspired the other. Their friends were writers, artists and rock stars; they lived a glamorous life of exhibitions, parties and concerts. They became parents to a daughter they adored. But Charlie suddenly changed, becoming hopelessly forgetful, angry and confused.