My ears perked up at Dr Vora’s explanation of her term “false anxiety.” It’s a polarizing way to define the physical and environmental factors that contribute to a likeness of anxiety, rather than a pure chemical imbalance. This is not an easy line to toe and I read her book with some hesitation.

What I loved was how she was able to hold multiple truths of an experience with anxiety at the same time while challenging the ways we’ve treated mental illness in Western medicine. It reflects her unique experience and training, both as a licensed psychiatrist and functional medicine expert.

This books is an easy, digestible read that still feels like you’re getting substance. I kept coming back to passages that made me feel wholly seen as a woman and as a writer. Reading about the author’s creative process unfolding alongside daily life is deeply inspiring to me at this point in my life. It reminds me that inspiration happens in the most unexpected places.