Your Life Depends on It

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What to expect

A top expert on decision-making explains why it’s so hard to make good choices—and what you and your doctor can do to make better ones.

In recent years, we have gained unprecedented control over choices about our health. But these choices are hard and often full of psychological traps. As a result, we’re liable to misuse medication, fall for pseudoscientific cure-alls, and undergo needless procedures.

In Your Life Depends on It, Talya Miron-Shatz explores the preventable ways we make bad choices about everything from nutrition to medication, from pregnancy to end-of-life care. She reveals how the medical system can set us up for success or failure and maps a model for better doctor-patient relationships.

Full of new insights and actionable guidance, this book is the definitive guide to making good choices when you can’t afford to make a bad one.

Critics Review

  • “The past year has shown that confusion exists prominently in our medical conversations. We need a new guide to navigating these complex decisions, and psychology professor Miron-Shatz is here to provide one.”

    Next Big Idea Club
  • “People who expect to stay healthy forever need not read this wonderful book. The rest of us should. With a fine combination of humor, compassion, and vast knowledge, Talya Miron-Shatz offers clear and useful guidance for the hardest decisions of life.”

    Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Laureate and New York Times bestselling author
  • “When Talya Miron-Shatz says, “Your life depends on it,” she isn’t kidding! The stakes for medical decision-making are so high, and the circumstances so fraught, that it’s no wonder that most people feel overwhelmed. In this fascinating and engaging book, you’ll learn practical strategies for navigating even the most challenging of decisions. Your Life Depends on It is not just an invaluable guide for patients; it’s also a manifesto for the healthcare system.”

    Danielle Ofri, MD, NYU School of Medicine, author of When We Do Harm
  • “This is a fine and very timely book on how to improve the conversation between patients and health professionals, based on the powerful idea of shared decision-making. Full of both great stories and psychological insights, it shows how to put into practice the fundamental principle of “nothing about us, without us.””

    Sir David Spiegelhalter, University of Cambridge, author of The Art of Statistics
  • Your Life Depends on It combines Miron-Shatz’s unique perspectives on health, choice architecture, and behavioral economics to present a work that is not only easy and exciting to read, but full of insights. This book is a must-read for anyone dedicated to the task of helping us get there.”

    Joseph Kvedar, MD, Harvard Medical School

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