Adulting Has Killed Our Fun — Here's How to Get It Back on the Schedule
Hi everyone, and happy September.
I don't know about you, but the start of this month always feels like a second new year to me with summer winding down, an opportunity to reset and think about goals for the last few months of the year.
I've just got back from a trip with my husband through Switzerland and France on the lakes, and although my health routines fell apart, the trip ended up being really active. Cycling round the lake and up the mountains, swimming, even a bit of wakeboarding. I came home with the kind of full-body ache you get after a brutal gym session, which felt satisfying. It also changed how I think about movement, less as something you must always do with structure and routine, and more as something that can be fun and varied. It made us think about ways we could incorporate more of that into our normal lives in London.
That's the theme of this week's newsletter — some ideas on how to incorporate more fun into our adult lives, and what the research says about it.
Emily x
🧠 Depression may shut down the brain’s ability to make new neurons
New research from Columbia University offers the first evidence that neurogenesis — the process of producing new neurons — stalls in the hippocampus of adults with major depressive disorder. Researchers found this may weaken "pattern separation," the brain's ability to keep similar memories and their emotions distinct, meaning a single flat or awkward moment can start to blur together with old memories of rejection or hurt, reinforcing negative interpretations of everyday life. The team also found wide-ranging molecular changes across the hippocampus, suggesting depression may not be one condition but several, each with a different underlying biology — and hope this could eventually lead to depression being classified and treated by its molecular subtype, the way cancer increasingly is today.
🧠 Scientists discover a brain "brake" that can shut down chronic pain
Deep in the brain sits a small cluster of nerve cells that normally help dial pain down. After a nerve injury, though, that same area can get stuck in overdrive, keeping pain switched on long after the injury itself has healed. Researchers found that this "brake" relies on the same type of receptor that morphine and fentanyl work through, just used far more precisely and locally in the brain. In mice, removing these receptors from that one brain area made pain worse, and putting them back switched the heightened pain response off again.
🩸 People who live past 110 have an unusual abundance of killer immune cells
Scientists studying supercentenarians, people who live to 110 and beyond, found they carry striking levels of a rare immune cell that's good at killing off abnormal or cancerous cells. In adults aged 70-99, these cells made up just 4% of the immune system. In centenarians, that rose to 9.6%. In supercentenarians, it jumped to 17.6%. In some cases, one single group of these cells made up more than half of them, suggesting the body was fighting off something specific and ongoing. "Immune aging is not simply a process of decline," said lead researcher Kosuke Hashimoto.
🥑 Keto does more for fatty liver than going low-fat
If you have fatty liver disease or prediabetes, the type of diet you follow may matter as much as how much weight you lose. A clinical trial from Washington University School of Medicine found that a ketogenic diet slashed liver fat by 67% on average — roughly a third more than a Mediterranean or low-fat approach, even when weight loss was identical across all three groups. Half of the keto participants with prediabetes reversed their diagnosis by the end of the study.
🧠 Bringing loved ones into therapy cuts hospital stays
If someone close to you has ever struggled with their mental health, this may be helpful. A clinical trial published in Lancet Psychiatry found that a model called Open Dialogue — where family, friends, or colleagues join regular treatment sessions alongside the patient — made psychiatric hospital admission three times less likely. Time spent as an inpatient was halved compared to standard care, and patients felt better about their own recovery. The approach, already used in more than 20 countries, is being piloted across five NHS trust areas.
Today's issue is supported by Vagus Nerve Stimulator, SONA
Today's newsletter is supported by SONA, an AI-powered vagus nerve stimulator that sits comfortably inside your ear. Earlier this year I had SONA's founder, Jane Ollis, on the podcast for a proper deep dive into the nervous system — one of my favourite conversations on the show, and well worth a listen if you haven't already. The device itself targets the auricular branch of the vagus nerve via the ear and adapts its stimulation in real time to your body, rather than using a fixed setting — built by a genuinely brilliant team of neuroscientists, astrophysicists, researchers and engineers.
The Health Review readers get 15% off with code THR at checkout.
Wearing the SONA in the podcast studio!
Adulting Has Killed Our Fun — Here's How to Get It Back on the Schedule
When’s the last time you could say you did something really fun? Or something that truly pushed you out of your comfort zone, for purely enjoyment’s sake, rather than a career goal.
I got back last week from a trip on the lakes in Switzerland and France with my husband, and something about it has shifted my mood since coming home. We cycled around the lake, tried paddleboarding, had a go at wakeboarding for the first time in years. None of it was for health reasons or training. There was no goal beyond enjoying it. I came home feeling different to how I normally do after a holiday, not just rested, but with a new perspective on how we lose our sense of fun and adventure as we age, and a real motivation to get it back.
It made me think about how little pure fun actually features in most adult lives. Most of us could tell you about our last workout or our last stressful week at work without pausing. Far fewer of us could say when we last did something purely because it was fun, with no other purpose attached at all. Play tends to disappear somewhere between childhood and the rest of life, and we barely notice it going.
There's real research behind this. Stuart Brown, a psychiatrist who founded the National Institute for Play after studying convicted murderers and finding severe play deprivation running through their childhoods, put it simply: the opposite of play isn't work, it's depression. His research and the wider evidence on adult playfulness both point the same way. People who score higher on measures of playfulness report lower stress and use healthier ways of coping generally. Play engages the brain's reward system and triggers the release of endorphins, the same chemicals responsible for what we usually think of as a runner's high. Neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp classed play as one of seven core emotional systems hardwired into the brain, on the same level as fear or seeking. In other words, this isn't a nice extra. It's closer to a basic need we've stopped meeting.
I think that helps explain why so many adults reach for a glass of wine to switch off in the evening. Alcohol is fast, familiar and doesn't need any planning. Real fun, the kind that leaves you feeling different afterwards, usually takes a bit more effort to find. But it does something wine never quite manages. It doesn't just help you switch off. It leaves you feeling more like yourself.
Since coming home, I've been trying not to lose whatever that trip switched back on, and it turns out there's more available here in London than I expected. Watersports at the Docklands, pickleball inside the Olympic velodrome, climbing walls scattered across the city, group tennis coaching that doesn't require you to already be good at tennis, padel courts opening up everywhere. Beyond structured activities, the research also points to something looser: novelty itself, doing something unfamiliar with a partner or friends, appears to raise dopamine in a way that routine simply doesn't. Even something as ordinary as trying a new class or a different route home counts.
I don't think this needs to be a big overhaul. Something once a week, or even once a month with no purpose beyond enjoying it would be a good start. Something entirely unrelated to your job or your inbox. Based on what the research suggests, it might do more for how you feel than most of what's on the average wellness list.
This feature is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own doctor before making changes to your health.
Emily x
London's Top Fitness Instructor on Movement, Midlife & Why Pilates Is So Much More Than You Think
About this episode:
Most of us know that movement matters. But between the conflicting advice, the gym intimidation, the endless content telling us to do more, lift heavier and optimise everything — it's become hard to know what our bodies truly need and how to build something that sticks.
In this episode of The Health Review I sit down with Tara Riley — founder of the Tara Riley Method, winner of Best Fitness Instructor London at the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2026 and one of the most respected movement teachers in the UK.
Tara spent years working as a TV producer before completely reinventing her career — building a method that blends Pilates, Barre, strength training and dance into something distinctive, and a community of women who keep coming back year after year because of how it makes them feel.
She turned 50 this year, was featured in Hello! Magazine for her approach to longevity in movement, and has been managing rheumatoid arthritis throughout her career — turning what could have been a reason not to move into the very foundation of why she does.