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Find out moreAnthony David is Director of the UCL Institute of Mental Health and honorary consultant neuropsychiatrist at the National Hospital, Queen Square. For twenty-eight years he was a consultant psychiatrist at Maudsley Hospital, London, the country's leading psychiatric institution. A Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Academy of Medical Sciences, he has published over 600 peer-reviewed articles and is co-editor of the journal Cognitive Neuropsychiatry.and the book Lishman's Organic Psychiatry. He also wrote the introduction to the Penguin Classics edition of R. D. Laing's The Divided Self.
Into the Abyss sees eminent cognitive neuropsychiatrist Anthony David share his considerable professional expertise and experience with lively aplomb. Setting out an overarching aim to “bridge the gulf of understanding between those with disorders and those without,” and explaining that modern psychiatry is an interweaving of biology, psychology and sociology, David elucidates that “every time we meet a new patient, we must decide which of the three, if any, is most important.” This, he argues, is fundamental to understanding and treating mental health disorders, as remarkably demonstrated through the case studies shared here, with each patient requiring complex multi-faceted diagnoses and rehabilitation strategies. Throughout “the tension between the perspective of an individual and that of the broader social world” is laid bare. Disorders might be experienced on an internal personal level, but they also exist and play out in a social context. Indeed, they can be caused and exacerbated by these contexts, be the condition schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder or an eating disorder. This complex interplay between mind, brain, body and cultural context is acutely shown in the case of a forty-year-old woman with anorexia nervosa. “Hunger and the drive to eat is...made up of ritual, mores, commercialisation and ethics”; “the control of appetite is managed by a complex but beautifully balanced neural-humeral programme.” The tenacious untangling of the causes of this patient’s disorder is extraordinarily fascinating, with unexpected findings and outcomes. Unflinchingly honest, erudite and humble, this is illuminating reading for anyone interested in mental health and “how brain and mind interact and, in a sense, vie for control.”
Into the Abyss sees eminent cognitive neuropsychiatrist Anthony David share his considerable professional expertise and experience with lively aplomb. Setting out an overarching aim to “bridge the gulf of understanding between those with disorders and those without,” and explaining that modern psychiatry is an interweaving of biology, psychology and sociology, David elucidates that “every time we meet a new patient, we must decide which of the three, if any, is most important.” This, he argues, is fundamental to understanding and treating mental health disorders, as remarkably demonstrated through the case studies shared here, with each patient requiring complex multi-faceted diagnoses and rehabilitation strategies. Throughout “the tension between the perspective of an individual and that of the broader social world” is laid bare. Disorders might be experienced on an internal personal level, but they also exist and play out in a social context. Indeed, they can be caused and exacerbated by these contexts, be the condition schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder or an eating disorder. This complex interplay between mind, brain, body and cultural context is acutely shown in the case of a forty-year-old woman with anorexia nervosa. “Hunger and the drive to eat is...made up of ritual, mores, commercialisation and ethics”; “the control of appetite is managed by a complex but beautifully balanced neural-humeral programme.” The tenacious untangling of the causes of this patient’s disorder is extraordinarily fascinating, with unexpected findings and outcomes. Unflinchingly honest, erudite and humble, this is illuminating reading for anyone interested in mental health and “how brain and mind interact and, in a sense, vie for control.”
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