Bridget Christie: ‘It’s trickery, hiding serious bits within a comic framework’

Two years ago she delivered her standup routine to 10 people in a strip club. Now she’s a star of the Edinburgh Fringe and touring the country. She talks biros, big families and why the new pope is ‘bloody marvellous’, writes Mark Lawson

Stage fright can lead to addiction, even in the world of classical music

Tom Eisner: As a professional violinist, I used to see colleagues turn to alcohol to calm the nerves, but physical fitness is now the drug of choice

Should hospital art be jolly – or should it portray the truth about pain?

Landscapes and clown murals are said to improve wellbeing in wards, but this kitsch propaganda may actually drive patients to despair

Riveted review – the science of why we find things compelling

Jim Davies's exploration of the psychology behind our passions and interests is full of attractive ideas, writes Nicola Davis

Thrive: The Power of Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies review – ‘a punchy polemic on mental health’

Richard Layard and David M Clark's polemic about mental illness is a revelation – but they're a little too sure they have all the answers, writes Ian Birrell

Locked In review – one man’s punchily written recovery story

Style matches subject matter in Richard Marsh's account of how he conquered locked-in syndrome, writes Helen Zaltzman

24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep by Jonathan Crary – review

Nicholas Lezard's paperback of the week: A timely and important polemic that demonstrates how capitalism makes us willing connivers in our own sleeplessness

Mood swings? It might be more than PMS…

Alice Roberts: The most commonly prescribed combined contraceptive pill has a potential side-effect that more women – and GPs – should know about

Laraaji: the Brian Eno of laughter

Laraaji wanted to be a rich, famous comic like Richard Pryor or Bill Cosby. He ended up teaching strangers how to laugh for the sake of their souls. Ben Beaumont-Thomas joins a class

The Shape We’re In review – sobering reflections on the obesity epidemic

Sarah Boseley's examination of the causes and consequences of obesity in the UK is salutary, but does not go far enough, writes Joanna Blythman