The Divided Mind: Uncovering psychiatry's dark past and reimagining its future

Edward Bullmore

Sep 2025 · Sold by New River

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320

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"A brilliant history of psychiatric ideas which suggests we are on the cusp of a transformation in our understanding of severe mental illness." The Guardian

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. But what if this mind/body split is not only outdated - but dangerously misleading?

In this groundbreaking book, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Edward Bullmore confronts one of medicine's most enduring assumptions.

Through the lens of schizophrenia - perhaps the most misunderstood of all psychiatric disorders - he 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.

Illuminated by his personal experiences and the latest scientific research, The Divided Mind builds the case for a radical rethink of how we understand, and treat, so-called "mental" illness in the 21st century.

"A brilliant history of psychiatric ideas which suggests we are on the cusp of a transformation in our understanding of severe mental illness." The Guardian For centuries, mental and physical health have been divided, and disorders of the mind and body have been treated as if they were poles apar...

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About the author

Edward Bullmore studied medicine at the University of Oxford and St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, before training as a psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, and completing a PhD in brain MRI analysis at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. He moved to Cambridge as Professor of Psychiatry in 1999 and his research on brain networks and development of severe mental health disorders has since been highly cited. He was Head of the Department of Psychiatry, then Deputy Head of the School of Clinical Medicine in the University of Cambridge, between 2014 and 2025. From 2005 to 2019, he also worked half-time for GlaxoSmithKline, focusing on the links between inflammation and depression, as described in his first book, The Inflamed Mind. His scientific work has been recognised by election to the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2025, he returned to King's College London as the Regius Professor of Psychiatry. He is married with three sons and lives in London.

Edward Bullmore studied medicine at the University of Oxford and St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, before training as a psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, and completing a PhD in brain MRI analysis at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. He moved to Cambridge as Professor of...

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