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 book was so impactful for me I slept for sixteen hours after completing it. While reading it, I had so many shifts in how I connect the feelings in my body to the thoughts in my head. Reading it felt like putting on glasses, and my world looks more in focus now.