May 2012 For immediate release Are we all mad? Or are we suffering from humania?

Is it possible that we are all mad? Leeds Metropolitan University Psychologist Steve Taylor thinks that we are and his new book, Back to Sanity: Healing the Madness of our Minds, published on Monday 25 June, suggests that the human race is in fact suffering from a psychological disorder, which he has coined humania. Steve argues that humania is the root cause of all our dysfunctional behaviour, both as individuals and as a species. He uses the book to explore both the symptoms, including: the madness of constant wanting; our constant stream of thoughts that leave us feeling unsettled and take us away from the moment, known as thought chatter and the collective madness of warfare, social oppression and environmental destruction, and he explains how we may be able to overcome this psychosocial discord. Steve comments: One of the main causes of humania is what I call 'cognitive discord' - the random thought-chatter that runs through our minds, creating disturbance inside us and triggering negative feelings like fear of the future, bitterness about the past, jealousy, guilt and so on. So one of the most important things we need to do is to quieten our minds a little, slow down the thought-chatter. There are a lot of activities we can use for this: sports like swimming and running have a mind-quietening effect, as does walking in nature. Mindfulness exercises help too - when we give full attention to our experiences and our surroundings, rather than being immersed in our own thoughts. And best of all is meditation, which really slows down our thoughts and stops us being overwhelmed with negative feelings.

The other main cause of humania is our sense of separateness - the way we feel that we're 'in here', inside our own mental space, with the rest of the world - including all other people - 'out there', on the other side. This sense of separateness creates a sense of lack and incompleteness which we try to fill with materialism or status-seeking, or by clinging to belief systems or social identities which make us feel more significant e.g. fundamentalist religion, or ethnic or national groups (which usually means feeling antagonism towards other groups). One way to overcome this sense of separateness is through connection. One thing which helps is altruism - being of service to other people, without thinking of your own reward. Research has shown that, as well as making us happier, altruism makes us feel connected to something bigger than our own selves. Contact with nature helps establish this connection too -and again, practices like mindfulness and meditation can help us to feel ourselves as part of the world, rather than as separate entities.

Steve argues that our madness is so intrinsic to us that we are unaware of it, but when we start to examine our behavior, it isnt hard to see evidence of insanity. Why, for example, are so many of us driven to accumulate more and more wealth, status and success without any evidence that they provide us with contentment and fulfillment? Why are we restless or uneasy when not occupied, and constantly looking for distraction, as if we are incapable of just being? On a collective level, why is human history an endless, depressing saga of warfare, conflict and oppression? We now live in an age where the worlds three richest people are wealthier than the 48 poorest countries combined, and where almost 800 million people are malnourished while millions of others are obese. What could be more insane than this? Steve asks in the first part of the book.

The second part of the book details suggestions of practices and ways of living including practical exercises which can help create a more harmonious inner state, so that we can begin to live inside ourselves, in the present, and attain a real state of sanity.

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For further details please contact Carrie Braithwaite in the Communications team at Leeds Met on 0113 812 3022 or email c.braithwaite@leedsmet.ac.uk

Notes for editors: Leeds Metropolitan University has over 25,000 students and around 3,000 staff. The Vice Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University is Professor Susan Price and the Chair of the Board is Lord Woolmer of Leeds. Leeds Metropolitans four faculties are: Arts, Environment and Technology, Business & Law, Health and Social Sciences, and Carnegie. Leeds Metropolitans heritage can be traced back to the founding of the Mechanics Institute in Leeds in 1824. International students rated the University top in the UK for language support, accommodation quality and learning spaces in the 2010 Autumn Wave of the International Student Barometer and sixth in the world for the quality of its lectures. We have over 1,500 international students from 122 countries around the globe. The Universitys award-winning learning environments include

Broadcasting Place, which was voted the best tall building in the world in 2010 by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and also winner of the 2010 Leeds Architecture Awards New Building category.