About the book

There are new, more accurate and more helpful ways to understand mental wellbeing. One in five people in the western world are labelled with a mental health disorder. Can the human mind really be malfunctioning at a rate of twenty percent? Mental health conditions are most often a normal state of the human mind rather than a malfunction. Your Normal Mind reveals the evolutionary logic behind modern mental health in a way not seen before. You’ll discover why your emotions so often pull you in a different direction to your conscious intentions. By looking at how the brain evolved for genetic rather than personal survival, the book helps you make sense of difficult feelings in a practical, compassionate way. 

Using evolutionary psychology, Your Normal Mind helps you understand the hidden patterns and surprising aims of your mind. By understanding the survival systems your brain still runs in the background, you’ll see why discomfort shows up the way it does. The book breaks down the mental “algorithms” that drive your motivation, decisions, and emotions. You’ll learn the simple evolutionary rules your brain still follows today, and how they shape your reactions without you realising.

Your Normal Mind gives you straightforward tools for dealing with everyday challenges at work and home. Control that impulse to snap at your partner. Understand and better interact with that difficult colleague. Strengthen your communication and relationships with your emerging teenager.  Work with your mind instead of fighting against it. Understand the cause of irritation, low mood and anxiety. There’s no jargon — just logical explanations of the human condition and useful ideas for managing emotion.