How to Improve Your Mind

Physical health is relatively easy to measure. We can time how fast one can run 100 meters, or measure the maximum weight a person can lift. To measure mental health is not that easy and the lack of mental health is not obvious either. But good mental health is as important as or even more important than, physical health, for our well-being. Book catalogues have many books on how to increase physical fitness, but few on improving mental health. I have practised psychiatry for over two decades and seen most of the mental illnesses described in textbooks. I have talked to many people who, though not mentally ill, lead unhappy lives, and cause misery to those close to them. These individuals suffer from poor mental health. I cannot help these persons with medicines. However, I know techniques and principles of improving mental health derived from quality research. The general public does not have easy access to this knowledge. This book is my attempt to fill this void. Raveen Hanwella Author In my youth, I turned to philosopher Bertrand Russell's book The Conquest of Happiness, published in 1930, in the hopes of improving my mind. But modern psychiatry is more reliable than old philosophy. So in my old age, I turn to psychiatrist Raveen Hanwella's How to Improve Your Mind for guidance. So should you, if you are sane. Prof Carlo Fonseka Emeritus Professor of Physiology Faculty of Medicine University of Colombo Sri Lanka