Today’s paid partner is BetterHelp, to get 10% off your first month of online therapy with a credentialed therapist head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread

In this episode, I sit down with Ellie Middleton — author of Unmasked and How To Be You — to talk about the messy, powerful journey of self-discovery through a late diagnosis of autism and ADHD.

From anxiety misdiagnoses and burnout cycles to the pressures of “being normal” and the power of simply understanding yourself, Ellie opens up about it all.

We also dive into reading habits, writing under pressure, self-compassion, and learning to be a big brave girl (in the surf).

What We Talk About

The cycle of burnout and the misdiagnosis of anxiety and depression

Ellie’s late diagnosis journey and the “lightbulb” moment in therapy

Masking and why “being normal” is so damn exhausting

Reading as a neurodivergent person — fiction, nonfiction, and dropping the book snobbery

Writing two books in under two years (and nearly breaking herself doing it)

Neurodivergent time vs. linear time — and why “spinning out in space” matters

The power of somatic work, surfing, and getting comfortable looking silly

Gendered differences in how autism and ADHD are recognised

Internalised ableism and the fear of being your unmasked self

Self-compassion as a daily practice, not a one-time fix

Links & Resources:

Follow Ellie: @elliemidds on Instagram / TikTok / LinkedIn

Follow the podcast on Instagram: @aneedtoread

A Need To Read is partnered with The Breath Space, a online Breath-work education and practise portal that I have been using for the last couple of months, alongside my course to become a breath-work facilitator. To check out how breathwork can help you, follow the link and use the code ED for 50% off your first 2 months. 

https://courses.thebreathspace.co.uk/your-breath-space-online-membership 

You can also support my work by heading to www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread 

Any feedback is welcome: [email protected] 

Boys read less than girls. That’s what the stats say, and today, writer, Lucas Oakley joins me to chat about why this is and gives some direction for guys looking to get into reading.

Today’s paid partner is betterhelp, for 10% off your first month head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread

books discussed

Mothers by Chris Power

All that man is by David Soles

Men without women by Murakami

Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia De La Cerda

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Four Three Two One by Paul Auster

A Little Life by Hanya Yangahara

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

For info on his new book and book club for boys follow Lucas on Instagram:  @LucasOakeley

buy me a coffee if you like, www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread

Feedback/comments welcome: [email protected]

Today’s paid partner is BetterHelp, to get 10% off your first month of online therapy with a credentialed therapist head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread

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Today's conversation is with Joanna Moncreiff, the author of 'Chemically Imbalanced: the making and unmaking of the serotonin myth'. We discuss the history of the link between depression and serotonin, side effects of taking SSRI's and the emerging mental health treatment methods that we should be wary of. 

For help understanding how you can come off Anti Depressants, follow this link 

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A Need To Read is partnered with The Breath Space, a online Breath-work education and practise portal that I have been using for the last couple of months, alongside my course to become a breath-work facilitator. To check out how breathwork can help you, follow the link and use the code ED for 50% off your first 2 months. 

https://courses.thebreathspace.co.uk/your-breath-space-online-membership 

You can also support my work by heading to www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread 

Any feedback is welcome: [email protected] 

This is a review of Sarah Bakewell's 'At The Existentialist Cafe', a book that looks at the main minds behind existentialis

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get an additional 5 free travel packs and a years supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected]

Matt Smith is a former professional surfer and sailor, now he spends his time on the west coast of Ireland as CEO of the charity HOMETREE (https://www.hometree.ie/about).

You can find him on Instagram @thehonestcaptain where he talks about his projects

www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread

www.buymeacoffee.com//aneedtoread 

Welcome back! I’ve been away for a while, and never even said see ya later or goodbye. 

This episode covers a little bit about why I stopped the podcast, what I’ve been up to, and where the podcast will go in the future. 

books recommended:

100 years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda

Someone To Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob Wakesburg 

COMING UP: interviews with Matt Smith (Hometree CEO) & Ellie Middleton (author of UNMSKED & How To Be You), and a review of ‘The Compassionate Mind’ by Paul Gilbert 

let me know if you have any suggestions for guests or topics you want me to look in to [email protected]

sponsors: www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread for 10% off your first month of therapy 

www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread

Www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread 

His book Entangled life was a Sunday Times Bestseller.

A-need-to-read is the code for an additional 10% off your first purchase with Urban Farm It, who do homegrown mushroom kits: https://urban-farm-it.com/

In this episode, I chat about some fiction books that you might like to read this year. 

Books discussed

When We Cease To Understand The World by Benjamin Labtut

Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 by Cho Nam Joo

A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Someone To Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksburg

First Person Singular by Hariku Murakami

If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura

The Virgin Suicides & Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 

A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara

Siddartha & Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

All of the links will take you to Bookshop.org, a website where when you buy books, you support small bookstores, and I also get 10% of the sale. Which is quite nice, init. 

Support for the podcast

If you want to help me produce podcasts directly, which would be VERY KIND, head to www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread 

You will have heard me bang on about how transformational therapy can be, that's why I am proud that Betterhelp sponsors A Need To Read. Meaning you get 10% off your first month if you wanted to chat with a therapist, just head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread

If you have any feedback, requests, or well-wishes, send me an email at [email protected]

Dan Osman is a Health and Wellbeing Educator, who has worked in the health and fitness industry for 17 years. 

We discuss; problems with social media, People’s relationships with diets, exercise, and themselves, Self-awareness, How to use values to guide you, confusing avoidance with enlightenment, body-image issues across genders,  society’s contribution to body image issues, self-objectification, and have a general moan about empty mental health advocacy.

Support for the podcast

I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.

- Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 

- Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee

- The show is sponsored by BetterHelp, so you can get matched with a therapist within 48 hours and get 10% off your first month by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread 

- You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk

Support for the podcast

I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.

- Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 

- Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee

- The show is sponsored by BetterHelp, so you can get matched with a therapist within 48 hours and get 10% off your first month by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread 

- You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk