Ruby Wax is the author of the best-selling books Sane New World and A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled and is well known as script editor for Absolutely Fabulous. Her one-woman shows Sane New World and Frazzled have toured both internationally and in London’s West End.
Ruby began her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and went on to a career with BBC television as interviewer, comedian, and writer. She then turned her attention to the study of neuroscience, graduating from Oxford University with a Master’s degree in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. She is also an Alumna and Honorary Senior Fellow of Regent’s University London’s with an MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Visiting Professor in the School of Mental Health Nursing at the University of Surrey. Ruby holds an Honorary Doctorate from the School of Psychology from The University of East London. She has also been awarded a Lifetime Fellowship at City Lit and was recently appointed as Chancellor of Southampton University.
Ruby founded Black Dog Tribe, a social networking site providing social support for people suffering with mental health issues. She presented her TedTalk at TedGlobal 2012What’s So Funny about Mental Illness? and speaks at Parliament and Downing Street to break the stigma. Ruby is an ambassador for MIND and SANE charities and is on the board of the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families.
In 2015, she was awarded an OBE for Services to Mental Health. Her latest book, How to Be Human: A Manual, was published in 2018.