Books like Scattered Minds

01

The Body Keeps the Score

Bessel van der Kolk · Psychology

The Body Keeps the Score is Bessel van der Kolk's account of four decades spent studying and treating trauma, from Vietnam veterans at the VA in the 1970s to survivors of childhood abuse, accidents, and domestic violence.

Both dig into neuroscience.

02

The Distracted Mind

Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen · Science

The Distracted Mind brings together two distinct research traditions — cognitive neuroscience and psychology of technology — to explain why modern humans find sustained attention so difficult and what can be done about it.

Both dig into neuroscience.

03

When the Body Says No

Gabor Maté · Health

When the Body Says No is Gabor Maté's investigation into how chronic stress and emotional suppression contribute to serious illness.

A kindred health read.

04

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Robert M. Sapolsky · Science

Behave is Robert Sapolsky's attempt to explain why humans do what they do — the violence, the altruism, the tribalism, the heroism — by working through every layer of biology that contributes to a single act.

Both dig into neuroscience.

05

The Anxious Generation

Jonathan Haidt · Psychology

The Anxious Generation is Jonathan Haidt's argument that a phone-based childhood — shaped above all by smartphones and social media arriving in the early 2010s — has caused a serious and measurable deterioration in the mental health of adolescents in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

A kindred health read.

06

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson · Psychology

Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson's premise is that much of what frustrates parents — tantrums, defiance, emotional meltdowns — is best understood not as bad behavior but as immature brain function.

Shares attachment and emotional regulation with Scattered Minds.

07

A General Theory of Love

Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon · Psychology

A General Theory of Love is a 2000 book by three psychiatrists at the University of California, San Francisco — Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon — who set out to explain love scientifically without stripping it of its significance.

Shares attachment and neuroscience with Scattered Minds.

08

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

Daniel J. Siegel · Psychology

Mindsight is Daniel Siegel's case that humans have a distinct capacity he calls "mindsight" — the ability to sense and shape one's own mental processes and to perceive the inner lives of others.

Shares emotional regulation and neuroscience with Scattered Minds.

09

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Gabor Maté · Health

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is Gabor Maté's book about addiction, written while he was working as a physician in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, one of North America's most concentrated pockets of poverty, drug use, and homelessness.

Both dig into neuroscience.

10

Spark

John J. Ratey · Health

Spark is John Ratey's argument, grounded in neuroscience, that aerobic exercise is the single most powerful thing most people can do for their brain.

Both dig into neuroscience.

11

The Depression Cure

Stephen Ilardi · Health

The Depression Cure is Stephen Ilardi's account of Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC), a structured program he developed at the University of Kansas for treating depression without primary reliance on antidepressants.

Both dig into neuroscience.

12

The Mindful Way Through Depression

Mark Williams · Health

The Mindful Way Through Depression is a clinical self-help book by four researchers — Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn — who developed Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, a treatment program with strong evidence for reducing depression relapse.

Both dig into emotional regulation.