Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Edward Bullmore, Simon & Schuster, $22.99.
This volume is accurately sub-titled. Finding out more about how mental symptoms originated from the brain have been a professional research mission for the British neuropsychiatrist, neuroscientist and academic.
University of Cambridge Professor Bullmore is a visionary. This far-reaching book reveals the breakthrough new science on the link between depression and inflammation of the body and brain.
If “we could understand more about how mental health disorders are generated by brain mechanisms we would be in a much stronger position to do something about treatment and prevention. We would probably also feel less ashamed or afraid to talk about mental health issues if we knew more certainly where they came from, or what caused them.”
He spent five years to learn more about how the immune system and the nervous system interact and how inflammation of the body can cause mental symptoms like depression. Increasingly these questions resonated widely, as noted by Bullmore.
“They touch on some very basic ideas about the relationship between the body and the mind, as well as the traditional difference between psychiatry and the rest of medicine. And they point towards not just a few new anti-depressant drugs but a radically reconfigured – dare I say, radically better – way of dealing with mental and physical health disorders together, rather than apart, as we currently do.”
He thinks it’s a really exciting story of how we could begin to see new science make a surprising difference to mental health. It’s an optimistic outlook, but one that needs to be taken seriously if there is interest in wanting to think about depression in an innovative way.
Certainly looking after our mental health has never been more important than the current COVID-19 lockdown. The new realities and lifestyle changes are challenging and stressful. Fear and anxiety are understandable. Statistics are alarming, but professional help is available.
