A Therapeutic Journey

A healthy mind knows how to hope, hanging on tenaciously to the reasons to keep going. A healthy mind resists unfair comparisons, not allowing others’ successes to throw it off course. A healthy mind avoids catastrophic imaginings, distinguishing worries of what could. happen from what likely will. Just as there is no such thing as a human being who will never become physically ill, there is no human who will go their whole life without mentally unwell. But recognising ourselves when we’re well can do a lot to help us identify what can go awry. Written with his signature kindness and empathy, this book is Alain de Botton’s practical guide to caring for our mental health - from the acts of selfcare in which we find respite to the days we find stability. Mental illness is as common - and as unshameful - as its bodily counterpart. We should be no more reluctant to seek help than we are if we develop a chest infection or sore knee - and we are no less worthy of love and sympathy in those moments. This book is a reminder of that.