Curing Mental Illness and Eradicating Loneliness Through the Science of Safety

A Simple Guide To Being Alive

By David M. L. Rabin, MD, PhD

SAN FRANCISCO, June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- More than one in five adults in the United States are living with a mental illness (NIMH, 2022) and approximately half of U.S. adults report experiencing loneliness (HHS, 2023). Drawing from more than two decades of clinical practice and neuroscience research, Dr. David Rabin, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and translational neuroscientist, addresses these issues in A Simple Guide to Being Alive (Merack Publishing, hardcover; June 16, 2026). The book examines why so many people feel overwhelmed, lonely, anxious, exhausted, and emotionally numb despite unprecedented advances in modern medicine and technology.

In the book, which is the No. 1 new neuroscience book on Amazon one day after launch, Dr. Rabin argues that many mental health challenges, including anxiety, burnout, addiction, depression, and loneliness, can be traced back to chronic stress and our misuse of technology. He notes it is the defining public health crisis of our time.

"At the core of nearly every mental illness is a nervous system that no longer feels safe," said Dr. Rabin. "This book is about understanding how we got here, what psychedelics and neuroscience are teaching us about healing, and why learning how to feel safe in our bodies again may be one of the most important skills of the 21st century."

The book offers a new framework for understanding health through the lens of nervous system regulation, safety, sleep, touch, attention, and social connection, highlighting a science-backed path to healing.

The release arrives amid rapidly accelerating conversations around the mental health epidemic and psychedelic-assisted therapy in the U.S. In recent years, mounting clinical evidence has demonstrated the potential of psychedelic medicines to produce rapid and durable improvements in conditions such as PTSD, depression, addiction, and end-of-life anxiety, particularly for patients who have not responded to conventional treatments.

In the book, Rabin argues that psychedelic-assisted therapies may ultimately represent the closest thing psychiatry has seen to a true cure for certain forms of mental illness. He compares their transformative impact to the role antibiotics played in infectious disease medicine during the 20th century.

Part memoir, part scientific investigation, and part philosophical roadmap, the book also tells the untold story behind the discovery of Apollo Neuro. Now used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, it is the first technology scientifically proven to augment sleep, HRV (heart rate variability), and mood.

Featuring a foreword by bestselling author Jamie Wheal, A Simple Guide to Being Alive has already earned praise from leading voices in medicine, neuroscience, mindfulness, and psychedelic science, including:

"This book calls you to life in your body and soul" – Dr. Gabor Maté, MD | Physician & Bestselling Author of The Myth of Normal 

"With remarkable clarity, Dr. Rabin bridges neuroscience and ancient wisdom, offering a clear path back to what it truly means to feel safe, present, and alive." – Dr. David Perlmutter, MD | Physician & 6X New York Times Bestselling Author

"There is a generosity to this book that stands out. It seeks not merely to inform, but to help readers recover something easily lost: the ability to be present in their own lives. – Dr. Ken Ford, PhD | Author, Scientist, Former Scientific Advisor to President Bush, Former Director of NASA & CEO emeritus IHMC

"A landmark contribution to the emerging field of psychedelic medicine and integrative mental health care." – Dr. Rick Doblin, PhD | Founder & President of The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)

"This is the kind of book I recommend not just to patients, but to anyone who wants to truly rest, recover, and remember what it feels like to be human again." – Dr. Michael Breus, PhD | Double-Board Certified Sleep Doctor & Bestselling Author of The Power of When

"A high-performance manual for upgrading your biology without losing your humanity." – Dave Asprey | 4X New York Times Bestselling Author, The Father of Biohacking, & Founder of Bulletproof and Upgrade Labs

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. David M. L. Rabin, MD, PhD, is a board-certified psychiatrist, translational neuroscientist, inventor, and entrepreneur on a mission to cure mental illness. He is a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Apollo Neuroscience, Executive Director of The Board of Medicine, a nonprofit medical board, and Medical Director of The Apollo Clinic. Dr. Rabin hosts The Psychedelic Report and Your Brain Explained podcasts and regularly serves as an expert commentator for outlets including The New York Times, CBS News, Vogue, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

For more information, visit:
DrDave.io
@DrDavidRabin
www.asimpleguidetobeingalive.com
www.apolloneuro.com
www.futuremedicinemedia.com

A Simple Guide to Being Alive
By Dr. David M. L. Rabin, MD, PhD
On-sale: June 16, 2026 | $39.99 Hardcover | $2.99 E-book

Media Contact
Alafair Hall
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SOURCE David M. L. Rabin, MD, PhD