I was the poster girl for OCD. Then I began to question everything I’d been told about mental illness

When I sought help for crippling invasive thoughts, I was told I had a disease like any other. But I wasn’t able to recover until I understood the fallacy at the heart of mental healthcare

‘The perceived scrutiny is immense’: how weddings can worsen eating and body image disorders

From dress shopping to weight-loss pressures, nuptials can open a Pandora’s box of body-image issues. Experts share advice on reducing the risk of new or worsening symptoms

A new start after 60: meditation cured my insomnia. Now I help others cope

Ken Lunn was having a ‘hellish’ time juggling work and childcare after his wife died. Then he found a way to catch his breath

‘I didn’t want to hurt that girl. I just felt this pressure building … ’ The sociopath who learned to behave – and found happiness

Patric Gagne has spent most of her life fighting terrible urges. She is also a loving sister, daughter, mother and wife. She talks about her remarkable journey

Ball pits and bodacious pigs: my week in search of happiness and wonder

I don’t want to be cynical or pessimistic, but it’s difficult in such gloomy times. Can I find a way to tap into my playful side?

The soft life: why millennials are quitting the rat race

Ambition once came with a promise: a home, a salary, progress and fulfilment. What happens when that promise is broken? Meet the women who are turning their backs on consumerism, materialism and burnout

A Body Made of Glass by Caroline Crampton review – an intelligent and engaging history of hypochondria

In this fascinating book, a survivor of a life-threatening illness chronicles the history of health anxiety and ponders whether it is a rational response to our flawed bodies

‘We are all unwell’: a scholar’s radical approach to health

Mimi Khúc discusses the concept of unwellness and how it is shaped by the structures around us in a new book dear elia

Life after a traumatic brain injury: ‘It took me over a year to find out I had an accident’

Caroline Laner Breure always wanted to be perfect. Then an accident left her in a coma. As she pieced her brain and body back together, her idea of perfection was transformed

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt – a pocket full of poison

An urgent and persuasive warning about the toll of ‘phone-based childhoods’

The one question we all need to ask ourselves – and how to tune in to the answer

Your inner voice can open up huge possibilities for change and growth, but it can be strangely hard to hear it. In the first of a new series, we look at how to really listen

Ignore the rightwing moaners. We don’t have 9m shirkers – they just want better work

A wild west labour market and millions of people on NHS waiting lists are responsible for the ballooning benefits bill, not idleness

Thank you, NHS England, for offering baby-loss leave. This kindness should be every employee’s right

Only about one-fifth of employers give paid leave after miscarriage, says Kat Brown, editor of No One Talks About This Stuff: 22 Stories of Almost Parenthood

‘All it takes is a quick walk’: how a few minutes’ exercise can unleash creativity – even if you hate it

Do you have your best ideas while running to the bus stop, or walking the dog? You’re not alone. Researchers are finding remarkable links between movement and blue-sky thinking

Mental health leave offered to Taiwanese students as youth suicides double

Scheme allows three days off each term as high school stress and depression rates soar