This is the argument for a holistic approach to mental health: not as a soft alternative to rigorous care, but as the more accurate account of what a human being actually is.

Emotional schemas are implicit learnings—"if-then" rules encoded in emotional memory—that predict what will happen if we do certain things. They're not thoughts we consciously believe. They're felt truths that live in our bodies and guide our behaviour automatically.

What if everything you've been taught about human nature is wrong? What if the cynicism baked into our institutions, our media, our parenting, and even our therapy models is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of who we are? These are the questions Rutger Bregman tackles in his book Humankind: A Hopeful History, and their implications for mental health are profound and far-reaching.