Into the Abyss: A neuropsychiatrist's notes on troubled minds

We cannot know how to fix a problem until we understand its causes. But even for some of the most common mental health problems, three specialists might offer you three completely different treatments. As a cognitive neuropsychiatrist, Professor Anthony David brings together many fields of study, from social and cognitive psychology to neurology. The key for each patient might be anything from a traumatic memory to a chemical imbalance, an unhealthy way of thinking or a hidden tumour. Patrick believes he is dead; Jennifer's schizophrenia medication seems to bring on the symptoms of Parkinson's; Emma is in a coma – or is she just refusing to respond? These are the fascinating case studies that have driven the most startling insights in Anthony's forty-year career studying illnesses at the edge of human understanding.

About the Author :
Anthony David is head of psychiatry at the renowned Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London and a practising clinician at the Maudsley and Bethlem Hospitals, South London, the country’s leading psychiatric institution. He is also the director and Sackler Chair of the UCL Institute of Mental Health. He has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles and is editor of the journal Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. He also wrote the introduction to the Penguin Classics edition of R D Laing's The Divided Self.

Review :
'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 )