Having suffered from depression, I’m very interested in the inner workings of the mind. I first picked up Dean Burnett’s Idiot Brain a few months ago at a Wellcome Trust exhibition about different states of mind. It’s an incredibly accessible book – a powerful subject covered in a very open way. I was keen to come to the event because I wanted to have the book opened up for me even more.
Our bodies do get overwhelmed. I worked for a major high street bank for 40 years. It got to a situation where I had to take three months off. I took redundancy and now work three days a week in an independent cinema, where I watch four films a week and talk to customers. It’s heaven.
There are so many ways to get information these days. At the event, I asked whether the brain is like a sponge, only able to take in a finite amount of information. Burnett said the brain has its own type of clearance device and will only remember the most important and recent things, which makes sense.
The fact that I’ve had a breakdown makes me more conscious of that strange mass in my head. With more of us suffering breakdowns, panic attacks and anxiety, people need to look after their brains as well as their bodies. I was lucky enough to be able to change my career path. I would say if you have that option, take it.
A lot of people left the event thinking about how they can best look after their brains. People care for their eyes and manage their weight, but forget about their brain. When I was a bank manager I used to go through customers’ budgets and tell them that if they could afford it, they should spend some money on themselves, even if it was just a book or CD a month. That feeds your soul. Otherwise you’re just living.
I only really became interested in science after I left school. Today it’s so much more accessible, with people such as [astronaut] Chris Hadfield and [physicist] Brian Cox. If you read a book about the equatorial rainforest, you may lose interest, but watch a film about it and it will make your head explode.
Keith Adsley is a former bank manager who now works in an independent cinema. He’s keen on cooking, gardening and the arts.
The Idiot Brain with Dean Burnett and Robin Ince was a Guardian Live event at Kings Place. To find out about Guardian Live, sign up to become a Guardian member.