# Brain Energy by Chris Palmer

2 Hacker News commenters recommended Brain Energy by Chris Palmer and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended by readers who found its brain energy theory of mental illness, including depression, compelling and sensible.

## Why people recommend it

- Compelling theory of depression (1 comments): "I recently read a book about "The brain energy theory of mental illnesses" which encapsulates depression and found it pretty compelling." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476093))
- Theory makes sense (1 comments): "which seem to make a lot of sense" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46312667))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/g-del-escher-bach.md): 47 recommend
- [Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-fast-and-slow.md): 17 recommend
- [Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-in-systems.md): 17 recommend
- [The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/selfish-gene.md): 14 recommend
- [Cosmos by Carl Sagan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmos.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637741588?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781637741580) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Brain Energy by Chris Palmer", https://hackerapproved.com/p/brain-energy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).