The Divided Mind

"A tour de force of science and history writing by one of our most important psychiatric leaders." John H. Krystal M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University

"A riveting read - told through the eyes of one of the world's most accomplished and compassionate psychiatrists." Professor Karl J. Friston, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London

"Edward Bullmore has given us a profoundly important book for family members, students, and professionals interested in mental health and mental illness." Dr. Thomas R Insel, Former Director of U.S. National Institute of Mental Health

"Perhaps if more politicians read this book and understood what goes wrong in the minds of people with schizophrenia, they might be more willing to devote sufficient resources to get people better." Sir Robin MacGregor Murray, Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College

For centuries, mental and physical health have been divided and disorders of the mind and body have been treated as if they were poles apart. This deep-rooted division has shaped medicine, psychiatry, and society. But what if this mind/body split is not only outdated - but dangerously misleading?

In this groundbreaking follow-up to his bestselling The Inflamed Mind, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Edward Bullmore challenges one of medicine's most enduring assumptions.

Through the lens of schizophrenia - perhaps the most misunderstood of all psychiatric disorders - Bullmore explores what he calls "the original schism" and the under-examined history of psychiatry itself.

Taking readers on a gripping journey through the evolving science of schizophrenia, illuminated by his personal experiences as a researcher and clinician, Bullmore lifts the lid on psychiatry's dark past. He highlights how the horror of the Nazi eugenics programme magnified a split between brain and mind theories which persists to this day. And he expertly introduces some of the new science that is building the case for a radical rethink of how we understand - and treat - so-called mental illness in the 21st century.

The Divided Mind shows us why and how we can now change our minds about the origins of one of the most mysterious and stigmatised disorders in medicine. It challenges us all to escape from our history to a more joined-up future for...read more...