People of the mind

A psychiatric illness can be not just a source of suffering, but the key to an entire mental architecture. When people describe their disorders, they may be telling us the stories of their lives. Here are tales of extreme neuro-chemical states; of cognitive puzzles; of psychodynamic mysteries. These are portraits of people revealed through the agonies and wonders of the human mind

Psychotheories

A war continues to be fought over explanations for the human mind and its illnesses. Cognitivists fight it out with psychoanalysts. Psychological and cultural explanations of madness vie with neurobiological and genetic ones. Here are accounts of the battles between psychobabble and bio-babble

Mental Health Act

The attempt to rewrite the 1983 Mental Health Act was thrown out by parliament in March, 2006. Then the government amended it in May 2007. The dilemma between public protection and patients rights remains unresolved. This section follows the unravelling of the politics of madness

Life Chronicle

In September 1985, aged 15, Saul Linklater suffered a major nervous breakdown which developed into acute manic depression, or bipolar disorder. Aged 30, he renamed himself “Archie” as part of an attempt to break with the past. This is the chronicle of a life spent trying to explain, treat and master psychosis. Coming soon…

In Analysis

Was Freudianism just an unscientific dream? Archie calls psychoanalysts “Moonies” and cognitive behavioural therapists “Numpties.” But his brother, Alex, is differently constituted. He is not ill, merely one of the “worried well.” Perhaps analysis will work for him. This is a story of 6 months on the couch. Coming soon…

In the Asylum

Saul (or Archie) has spent much of his career as a manic depressive—his “recreation”—in the Royal Edinburgh psychiatric hospital, which was founded in the 18th century, ironically, by one of his and Alex’s ancestors. This is the story of an asylum, told from its enlightenment origins to the present day. Coming soon…

Weblog

Every day is a tale of the psychologically unexpected. Here are thoughts from Alex’s investigations, records of encounters or conversations, and other stray psycho-anecdotes