12/09/2019
A handful of case studies provide the jumping-off point for this fine debut memoir from David, longtime consultant psychiatrist for Maudsley Hospital in London. Displaying intellectual curiosity and pragmatic compassion, David focuses on cases in which the physiological and the psychological converge. These include a traumatic brain injury that led a patient to believe life was unreal, an eating disorder triggered by an awareness of historical atrocities, and a neurological disorder provoked by family stress. David quietly builds understanding and respect for his patients, always stressing that their behavior, even when objectively nonsensical, makes sense to them. He also candidly addresses the challenges of being in the role of medical authority, whether noting his peers’ lack of sympathy for those with self-inflicted injuries, managing the unwillingness of the U.K.’s National Health Service to approve specialist treatment, or resisting a father’s desire to discontinue his child’s treatment for non-epileptic seizures. Readers will come away from this thoughtful work feeling a sense of connection to both the patients profiled and the practitioners who aim to understand them. (Mar.)
‘What an insightful and heartfelt book. Professor David's seven in-depth cases expose both the rifts and junctures of the brain and the disordered mind. By emphasizing the subjective inner life of his patients, he provides a welcome antidote to the reductionist thinking of modern medicine while still adhering to sound principles of neuroscience.’
‘Some years ago I told the BMJ that the three biggest influences on me were Anthony Clare, Anthony Soprano and Anthony David. The first sadly is no longer with us, the second never existed, but I am delighted to say that the third has just produced the book we knew he alone could. It’s a classic – warm, erudite, and endlessly fascinating. It reminds me of Oliver Sacks in his prime , and there is no higher praise.’
‘The book leads the reader through each individual case with literary ease and clarity of explanation, generating understanding and a familiarity, as the reader becomes acquainted with each patient through his gentle, observant, often witty and always engaging narrative.’
‘David writes interestingly and in detail (with the patients' permission) about the disorders which his seven patients suffer and the way these affect their lives. He tells of his own actions, the questions he asks, the responses of the patients to his investigations and treatments, and his difficulties in finding the causes of their disorders. He is honest, too, about his successes and failures [...] David's interactions with his patients bring this book to life. He is interested in his patients as individuals and wants to work with them to find the cause of the problem and the most effective treatment [...] In the end, looking at the functioning of the brain may be like looking into the abyss, but with this book David hopes to 'demystify psychiatry' and 'help us to change things for the better'.’
'I was expecting this to make my brain hurt, but I was immediately hooked on it...A witty, humane and fascinating book.'
‘This powerful book can help everyone understand our minds better.’
‘An illuminating, thoughtful and humane encounter with the human mind.’
‘A highly eloquent, fascinating and deeply compassionate book about the continuing mystery of mental illness and the cruel fallacy of seeing it as somehow less real and deserving than so-called physical illness.’
‘David’s stories are fascinating, and he does something quite remarkable with his tone. Here the obvious comparison is to the neurologist and prolific writer Oliver Sacks... Rarely have I read a book whose title is so true. Reading it was like standing on the edge of a great chasm and seeing how easily an unforeseen mishap could send any one of us tumbling in.’
‘Few are better suited to tell the story of our mental lives than Anthony David. He has written a beautiful, intimate book of the stories he's seen, one that probes at the nexus of the biological and societal...In his shoes, we get to step into the private realm of the psychiatrist's office, and often into the lingering questions left in the psychiatrist's mind.’
‘A deeply moving book.’
‘The first thing that comes across from the stories is David’s obvious compassion for his patients. This is typified not just by his thoughtful medical interventions and the doctor-patient conversations he recounts in vivid detail, but also by his willingness to raise hell with the relevant bureaucrats when pointless rules get in the way... David’s case studies are illuminating and benefit considerably from his warm, self-deprecating style.’
'Anthony David brings alive the specialist language of neuropsychiatry – the medical domain where the brain meets the mind – in a series of erudite, insightful and sympathetic accounts of individual patients and their families. This book is written on the basis of a lifetime’s clinical experience but readable by anyone who wants to know more about some of the most challenging and perplexing disorders of consciousness, thought and emotion.'
‘The first thing that comes across from the stories is David’s obvious compassion for his patients. This is typified not just by his thoughtful medical interventions and the doctor-patient conversations he recounts in vivid detail, but also by his willingness to raise hell with the relevant bureaucrats when pointless rules get in the way... David’s case studies are illuminating and benefit considerably from his warm, self-deprecating style.’
Dr Stuart Ritchie - Sunday Times
02/01/2020
Cognitive neuropsychiatrist David (director, Inst. of Mental Health, Univ. Coll. London) elegantly describes case studies from his decades-long career that illustrate the complex tangle of biological, psychological, and social factors influencing mental health. Exploring his own ideas on the subject while simultaneously breaking down key medical concepts into accessible language, David creates a work that reads like a memoir. The cases are distinct, the diagnoses elusive, and the personality of each patient comes through with warmth and care. The author doesn't gloss over the reality that sometimes there are no definitive answers or perfectly happy endings, but he maintains a spark of hope that keeps the narrative from becoming bleak. VERDICT Readers seeking a realistic approach to understanding the potential causes of mental illness will appreciate David's thought-provoking reflections, as will mental health professionals and fans of Oliver Sacks's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat .—Rachel Hoover, Thomas Ford Memorial Lib., Western Springs, IL
★ 2019-11-11
In his first book, psychiatrist David (co-author: Lishman's Organic Psychiatry , 2009), director of the University College London Institute of Mental Health, writes that journalistic accounts of mental health "either lament the overdiagnosis and the medicalization of life or blame it all on modern society. The real problem, they say, is social media, sexual abuse, drugs, poverty, wealth, patriarchy, feminism, religion, lack of religion…the list goes on." After agreeing that social and personal stresses play a role—as they do in obesity, heart disease, allergies, and numerous other conditions—the author proceeds to discuss a dozen patients whose illnesses can only be explained by a combination of biology, psychology, and sociology: the "biopsychosocial model of mental disorder." Among David's case studies are a man who suffered a catastrophic accident that left him with severe brain damage, from which his body recovered but not his personality; two different patients who were completely paralyzed despite tests that showed their brains were awake and functioning; and a schizophrenic woman who developed Parkinson's disease, which doesn't make sense because Parkinson's, a neurological disorder, results from a deficiency of dopamine, a chemical that transmits nerve signals in the brain; schizophrenia is thought to involve a dopamine excess. David comes across as a compassionate physician and talented writer who works hard to demonstrate the biopsychosocial model and usually succeeds. Americans will note that a major social source of treatment failure—inability to afford it—doesn't apply in Britain's National Health Service, and several of his long-term triumphs could not have been repeated in the U.S. The cases are complex and sometimes so bizarre that it's often difficult to apply their lessons to familiar disorders, but readers will be captivated.
Fascinating stories from the practice of a skilled neuropsychiatrist.
'I was expecting this to make my brain hurt, but I was immediately hooked on it...A witty, humane and fascinating book.' (Jo Brand )
‘A highly eloquent, fascinating and deeply compassionate book about the continuing mystery of mental illness and the cruel fallacy of seeing it as somehow less real and deserving than so-called physical illness.’ (Henry Marsh CBE, neurosurgeon and author of Do No Harm )
‘Few are better suited to tell the story of our mental lives than Anthony David. He has written a beautiful, intimate book of the stories he's seen, one that probes at the nexus of the biological and societal...In his shoes, we get to step into the private realm of the psychiatrist's office, and often into the lingering questions left in the psychiatrist's mind.’ (Dr David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford University and author of Incognito and The Brain )
‘Some years ago I told the BMJ that the three biggest influences on me were Anthony Clare, Anthony Soprano and Anthony David. The first sadly is no longer with us, the second never existed, but I am delighted to say that the third has just produced the book we knew he alone could. It’s a classic – warm, erudite, and endlessly fascinating. It reminds me of Oliver Sacks in his prime , and there is no higher praise.’ (Sir Simon Wessely, Professor of Psychological Medicine, King's College London )
‘What an insightful and heartfelt book. Professor David's seven in-depth cases expose both the rifts and junctures of the brain and the disordered mind. By emphasizing the subjective inner life of his patients, he provides a welcome antidote to the reductionist thinking of modern medicine while still adhering to sound principles of neuroscience.’ (Dr Alan Ropper, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and author of Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: Extraordinary Journeys into the Human Brain )
'Anthony David brings alive the specialist language of neuropsychiatry – the medical domain where the brain meets the mind – in a series of erudite, insightful and sympathetic accounts of individual patients and their families. This book is written on the basis of a lifetime’s clinical experience but readable by anyone who wants to know more about some of the most challenging and perplexing disorders of consciousness, thought and emotion.' (Dr Edward Bullmore, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge )
‘This powerful book can help everyone understand our minds better.’ (Dr Rahul Jandial, author of Life Lessons from a Brain Surgeon )
