The flow state: the science of the elusive creative mindset that can improve your life

Scientists have long known the mental and creative benefits of total absorption in an activity. But what causes it, and how can we achieve it?

Put Sgt Pepper back in its sleeve – after 60 years, A Hard Day’s Night is still the Beatles at their joyful best

From its revolutionary first chord to its last bars, the Beatles’ overlooked third album transcends mere ‘pop’, says author Colin Fleming

Sleep review – marriage unravels in gleeful Korean somnambulist psycho-chiller

Lee Sun-kyun appears posthumously in one of his best performances as an actor struggling to control his night-time excursions in this elegant and intimate horror

Self-help was meant to make me feel better. Instead it turned toxic – and borderline dangerous

For 15 years I read the books, took the courses and downloaded the apps to try to become a better person. None of it helped, says writer Emily Goddard

On the Couch: Writers Analyze Sigmund Freud review – the shrink’s shrink engagingly examined by Siri Hustvedt, Susie Boyt and others

Authors reassess the legacy of the father of psychotherapy in a lovely grab bag of essays

How a solo retreat helped relight my creative fire

It felt selfish, but at home I couldn’t finish a thought without being interrupted by my kids – so I packed my bags and headed to the coast

Coming of Age: How Adolescence Shapes Us by Lucy Foulkes review – deep dive into the teenage mind

An academic psychologist’s insightful and compassionate study of adolescence is expertly presented, plotting out harmful as well as helpful transitions into adulthood

A bodybuilder pinches his bulging thigh – Sergio Purtell’s best photograph

‘This was taken at a small high school event. It was all about who could create the “perfect body” by working hard – and maybe becoming the next Arnold Schwarzenegger’

Coming of Age by Lucy Foulkes review – the truth about teenagers

From being popular to taking risks, this wise and revelatory study overturns received wisdom about adolescence

‘The first few nights were punishing’: how sleep restriction cured my lifelong insomnia

After giving birth, novelist Lara Williams feared she might never sleep again. So she turned to CBT-i, a radical therapy that rewired her relationship to sleep