Books like Cracked by James Davies

Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow" explains how two distinct mental systems shape our judgments and decisions, offering insights into the biases that influence everyday choices.

Jon Ronson's investigative inquiry into psychopathy examines the tools, practitioners, and personalities behind the science—and reveals how the lines between study and madness can blur.

A groundbreaking work that explains how trauma rewires the brain and body, and presents evidence‑based therapies—from neurofeedback to yoga—that unlock the mind’s natural capacity for healing.

Explores the groundbreaking science of neuroplasticity, showing how the brain can recover from injury, learn new skills, and even rewire itself to overcome long‑standing mental limits.

Johann Hari investigates the roots of depression and anxiety, arguing that modern lifestyles—not chemical imbalances—are the primary culprits, and presents nine real causes along with seven alternative solutions.

"The New York Times bestselling author of The Brain That Changes Itself presents astounding advances in the treatment of brain injury and illness. In The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge described the most important breakthrough in our understanding of the brain in four hundred years: the discovery that the brain can change its own structure and function in response to mental experience-what we call neuroplasticity. His revolutionary new book shows, for the first time, how the amazing process of neuroplastic healing really works. It describes natural, non-invasive avenues into the brain provided by the forms of energy around us-light, sound, vibration, movement-which pass through our senses and our bodies to awaken the brain's own healing capacities without producing unpleasant side effects. Doidge explores cases where patients alleviated years of chronic pain or recovered from debilitating strokes or accidents; children on the autistic spectrum or with learning disorders normalizing; symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and cerebral palsy radically improved, and other near-miracle recoveries. And we learn how to vastly reduce the risk of dementia with simple approaches anyone can use. For centuries it was believed that the brain's complexity prevented recovery from damage or disease. The Brain's Way of Healing shows that this very sophistication is the source of a unique kind of healing. As he did so lucidly in The Brain That Changes Itself, Doidge uses stories to present cutting-edge science with practical real-world applications, and principles that everyone can apply to improve their brain's performance and health"-- "Norman Doidge's revolutionary new book shows, for the first time, how the amazing process of neuroplastic healing really works. It describes natural, non-invasive avenues into the brain provided by the forms of energy around us--light, sound, vibration, movement--which pass through our senses and our bodies to awaken the brain's own healing capacities without producing unpleasant side effects. Doidge explores cases where patients alleviated years of chronic pain or recovered from debilitating strokes or accidents; children on the autistic spectrum or with learning disorders normalizing; symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and cerebral palsy radically improved, and other near-miracle recoveries. And we learn how to vastly reduce the risk of dementia with simple approaches anyone can use. For centuries it was believed that the brain's complexity prevented recovery from damage or disease. The Brain's Way of Healing shows that this very sophistication is the source of a unique kind of healing"--

This work is about the art of living mentally well. Told through the first-hand experience of mental health advocate, activist and speaker Kevin Hines (who has bipolar disorder), the story is an honest account of the struggle to live mentally well, and teach others how to do the same. It educates the public about mental illness and helps anyone reading find hope in any situation.

In an effort to enlighten a new generation about its growing reliance on psychiatry, this illuminating volume investigates why psychiatry has become the fastest-growing medical field in history; why psychiatric drugs are now more widely prescribed than ever before; and why psychiatry, without solid scientific justification, keeps expanding the number of mental disorders it believes to exist. This revealing volume shows that these issues can be explained by one startling fact: in recent decades psychiatry has become so motivated by power that it has put the pursuit of pharmaceutical riches above its patients' well being. Readers will be shocked and dismayed to discover that psychiatry, in the name of helping others, has actually been helping itself. In a style reminiscent of Ben Goldacre's Bad Science and investigative in tone, James Davies reveals psychiatry's hidden failings and how the field of study must change if it is to ever win back its patients' trust.

Extremely useful