Sane: How I shaped up my mind, improved my mental strength and found calm

by Emma Young

Emma Young has no history of mental illness, just like everyone else, occasionally she gets down, anxious and disproportionately stressed. Disappointed that her mind does not always deal well with the pressures of modern life, Emma decided to go on mind-toning journey.

Is it possible to tone your mind just as you can tone your body so it becomes more resilient and better prepared to deal with what life throws at you?

By looking at some of the new and tried and tested techniques, from meditation to mental preparation involved in extreme sports and military training, Emma has devised a programme that will help everyone achieve mental stability.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mental Health

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 4, 2015

About the author

Emma Young is an award-winning science and health journalist and author. She has a BSc (Hns) in psychology from the University of Durham and 20 years’ experience working on titles including the Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald and New Scientist, for which she worked as a senior online reporter in London and Australasian Editor in Sydney. Now employed by the British Psychological Society as a Staff Writer, she also writes freelance articles and books.

Reviews

[Belinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma Young is not happy with her mental health - she's easily irritated, finds it hard to focus and feels she is not operating as well as she could. So, she decides to go on a mental boot camp, trying to find out what would make her more mentally healthy. In the process, she speaks to many experts, tries many things and, in the end, is able to achieve a better mental space.

I was super interested in the concept of this book. I think I too could stand to go on a bit of a mental diet! However, while the subject matter was generally interesting, Young's explorations are very detailed. Because she's trying to find out what works for her, it's a very personal journey and, truthfully, I just didn't need as much detail as she provided! I therefore really only read the introduction and conclusion in detail and then skipped to the bits of interest of me. Basically (spoiler alert), she found that the number one thing that affected her mental health was exercise, followed by sleep and nutrition second, and meditation third. Interesting! I found the section on all of the benefits of exercise really interesting and it definitely prompted me to put on my runners yesterday and go for a work.

Definitely worth a look at and I was pleased with the detailed reference list at the back of the book.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't so much a self help book - more a 'how I helped myself' book. The author decided she was feeling more stress in everyday life than was good for her or good for her family as she found herself constantly shouting at her two small children when she felt she should be more patient with them. Her husband wasn't faring well either when she found the stresses and strains of every day life getting on top of her. Instead of reaching for the most popular book she could find she decided to create her own self help programme.

The book describes how she did it and what the results were. There are so many self help books out there but it's not always possible to find the one whose author's style resonates with you and whose techniques are easy to incorporate into a busy daily life. The author had the advantage of being a journalist specialising in related fields anyway and she decided to interview experts, try out techniques such as meditation and read books to see which bits she felt she could use.

The book looks at meditation and mindfulness, resilience, mental toughness, exercise and diet. The author quotes the experts she spoke to and to ordinary people who had found various methods worked for them. By analysing what she learned she was able to create a plan for herself which it would be practical for her to incorporate into her daily life. The last chapter describes how she did it and what happened.

I enjoyed reading this book because it is about practical changes you can make to your life which will help you deal with every day events and will keep your stress levels down. It is about finding out what works for you and not about changing your life completely from day one. It provides a blueprint for anyone wanting to do something similar in their own life. It isn't about being the best you possibly can but about being better than are at the moment.

There are plenty of references throughout the text to useful books and organisations and there is a short bibliography and an index. If you find self help books impractical then try this one as it might give you some ideas of how you can make changes in a practical and achievable way.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman looks at different ways to improve her life.

I found this self-help book a bit long winded / repetitive.

Real rating 2.5

[Gary Stroud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read and covered a fair amount of ground too. It is organised around 7 themes with a chapter at the end to summarise the main learning points and the author’s progress with these new habits.

There was a lot of research mentioned and conversations with professionals in addition to more personal anecdotes and those of friends. This helped with the tone of the book which was very warm and conversational.

The main difficulty with books of this nature is that it would take a lifetime’s work to implement all the recommendations. It doesn’t focus in on one skill and claim that it will change your life but rather broadly reviews many ways to improve one’s life and mind. I like the approach as it is easy to then research further literature on any specific topic that takes your interest.

[Claire Hennessy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma Young is a British journalist and author (aside from non-fiction she has also written YA thrillers) who focuses on science and psychology. SANE is a personal journey through the many different collections of advice and paths to mental health that are out there, coming from the point of view of someone who is not suffering from mental illness but is stressed and, well, living in the world. This is about shoring yourself up rather than dealing with a crisis, and Young talks to various experts with a constant focus on what the evidence actually says, and how this may be at odds with what a headline suggests.
There's a very practical, sensible, BRITISH approach to all of this; she talks to a wide range of fascinating people (meditation gurus, military personnel, athletes, scientists of all kinds) while also bringing it all back to, what bits can be proved, and what aspects of this are realistically sustainable for her. The conclusions (get more sleep, exercise, eat better, meditate, etc) are by no means groundbreaking but the interesting thing is the journey and particularly the looking-closer-at-certain-claims bits. It's a good overview of mental health myths and facts, and a useful slant for people who might not feel 'in need' of a mental health boost but would quite like one.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the premise of the book. Also kudos to the detailed research that went into for each of the topics. However, a few of the middle chapters were written in a way which was confusing to read, going back and fourth previous sections. If not for the the middle chapters, would've given it 4 stars.

[Wendy Orchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and will add to my collection of go to self help. This book is in no way cosmic like so many of it's kind. It is factual and relatable whilst still being able to give valuable insight into positive thinking and lifeskills. I never felt like the author thought herself a guru or superior but more like a friend sharing advice.

[Sam M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full of useful advice I'm sure but didn't get on with the style of writing. Felt like an extended magazine article. Apologies to the author but I just couldn't finish it.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical tips along with some interesting new ideas about the science of mood and how to improve your own. Good to keep around as a reference/reminder. Recommended.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book, as I like to say that similar to physical health everyone "has" mental health. I find it a little perplexing that people would be so concerned about staying healthy physically and only consider being on the mental health / wellbeing spectrum, once they are experiencing clinical difficulties. Just like everyone always wants to eat healthy and get fit, this book was great as it seemed to casually discuss taking care of your wellbeing, which is something I feel people don't talk about enough. I'm definitely biased and was drawn to her writing as a fellow Psych grad and although it is all based on personal lived experince, I appreciated the research / "expert" opinions included.

[Deana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, interesting and practical though life changing....no

[Benedict · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kept.

[Rhianna Levi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would be lying if I said that this book is not rather long winded. You start to get more into what the writer is saying as you get further through the book and undeniably, it has some useful tips. However, I would probably would not put it with the top self help/ love books that I have read over the past few months.