An expert, empathetic guide to the science, psychology and physiology of breaking, from the acclaimed author of How We Are
Vincent Deary is a practitioner health psychologist who helps people cope with whatever life has thrown at them. In How We Break, he examines, with great empathy, what happens to our minds and bodies when we are pushed to, and beyond, our limits.
Drawing on clinical case studies, cutting edge scientific research, intimate personal stories and references from philosophy, literature and film, How We Break offers us a map through the challenging terrain of everyday human suffering. The big traumas in life, Deary points out, are relatively rare. Much more common is when too many things go wrong at once, or when we are exposed to prolonged periods of difficulty or precarity. In these scenarios, he shows us, our breaking is embodied, as our physical and mental distress are linked, and what happens when the same systems that enable us to navigate through life become dysregulated. Moreover, we break where we live- stress and pressure interact with our individual genetics, life experiences and circumstances in entirely unique and personal ways. Ultimately, anyone can be laid low in the right conditions, no matter how stoic- the book reveals that it's a clinical falsehood to assume we can weather life's storms through force of will alone.
In these anxious times, Vincent Deary's voice is a reassuring hand on the shoulder. By equipping us with a better understanding of what happens to us when we're struggling to cope, Deary charts a path through the suffering, helping us find compassion for ourselves and for those around us.
About the Author
Vincent Deary is professor of applied health psychology at Northumbria University, where his research focuses on the development of new psychosocial interventions for people with a variety of health complaints, including cancer survivors and fear of falling in older adults. As a clinician he works in the UK's first trans-diagnostic Fatigue Clinic, to help people for whom fatigue is a disabling symptom. He is the author of How We Are.
Industry Reviews
A lyrical and ultimately uplifting examination of what happens when our minds and bodies are put under extreme stress or suffering -- Isabel Berwick * The Financial Times *
Drawing on a wide range of sources about the human experience, Vincent Deary has written a warm and compassionate book about how we hurt and how we heal. A rich and humane work -- Gwen Adshead, forensic psychiatrist and author of THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
From a deep mine of science, philosophy, art and personal experience, Vincent Deary has produced a treasure of a book. Every page of How We Break gleams with wisdom and insight. Nobody could fail to be enriched by it -- Matt Rowland Hill, author of ORIGINAL SINS
A particular strength of the book is the way Deary weaves between different schools of thought within psychology, philosophy and religion. The result is not merely a discussion of abstract ideas, but a collection of valuable observations about what it means to be human in the modern world * the Guardian *
Deary's exhilarating new book mixes science, philosophy and memoir to argue that self-acceptance is our best defence against the stress of living... Deary's writing is wise and compassionate, sometimes florid and always interesting - few writers could jump so nimbly between Proust and RuPaul, neuroscience and the occult. ... Deary's is the rare book that helps you see the world a little differently -- Sophie McBain * The New Statesman *
The psychologist and researcher's persuasive inquiry into how life's struggles take their toll is full of hard-won wisdom... There is a rawness to Deary's analysis that gives a compelling human edge to his theorising -- Tim Adams * Observer (Book of the Day) *
