The Broken Brain

by Nancy C. Andreasen

The Broken Brain provides a complete and remarkably readable guide to the new scientific understanding of schizophrenia, severe depression, and other major mental disorders and to the new medications that have already returned hundreds of thousands to more normal lives. Dr. Andreasen's book is also a social manifesto that seeks to remove the shame, guilt, and punishment that are still attached to the mentally ill and, instead, to regard them "as human beings who deserve as much sensitivity and love as people who suffer from cancer, muscular dystrophy, or heart disease."

Genres: Psychology, Psychiatry, Health, Science, Neuroscience, Brain, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., is Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at The University of Iowa College of Medicine. She is actively involved in neuroimaging research, which involves the use of structural MR imaging, functional MR, and positron emission tomography.
She has written a book on neuroimaging (Brain Imaging: Applications in Psychiatry), as well as more than 500 articles and seven books on other related topics. The primary emphasis of her research is on the development and application of novel neuroimaging tools, the study of normal cognition and emotion, and the study of major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, and schizotypal personality.

Reviews

[Jay Hamm · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is only worth reading as a historical snapshot, revealing mainstream psychiatry at its most hubristic. Overly reductionistic and in hindsight entirely misguided in its predictions for what brain science and psychopharmacology would reveal in the 1980s and 1990s. Cherry picks history, makes bad predictions, and propagates misinformation about so-called chemical imbalances. Reads like propaganda for bio-psychiatry.

[Julian Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is an older book from the late 1980's, it was a very good introduction to the medical model of mental illness. The author discusses the biochemical and physical causes of major mental illnesses and physical/medical treatments. She presents several actual cases of mentally ill patients in a very sympathetic and understanding way which impresses upon the reader the profound suffering that mental illness can cause.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book. Perhaps a bit dated in some ways now, but still a great work about how and why psychiatry has developed a new biological focus.

[Leabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andreasen outlines the new model of psychiatry (the shift from a psychoanalytic to a biological model). It is well written and very informative.

[Zehra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated and out of style. That would be fine but considering the fact that her bold and wild claims had no evidence to back it up, it’s depressing.

[Aleister Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good starting point for understanding what now now call biological psychiatry, though it's precedent go back to Ancient Rome with Democritus and Hippocrates. Hippocrates found Democritus in his garden dissecting animals in an attempt to understand what caused melancholia and madness.

Genetics is important but doesn't account for everything. if one monozygotic (identical twin) is autistic, the other twin only has a 69% chance of being autism.

One major problem with this book is the belief that biological psychiatry would have solved everyone's problems by the year 2000. Instead, people are becoming both psychically and mentally sicker. Social conditions do affect biology (it's called epigenetics). Biological psychiatry is also being held back by restrictions on neurological procedures, The War on Drug (chemical that make people happy tend to get banned, hence Big Pharma is reluctant to do psych research anymore and focused on weight-loss drugs), and the fact that so many people respond extremely well to placebos (this includes SSRIs).

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative, however, it is extremely out of date if you read it today. A lot of the statistics have changed tremendously. There are also a lot of new developments, such as new diagnoses and MANY new medications.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I expected based on what I’d read about it. Measured and cautious, and written clearly.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book on mental illness, brain function, and the historical approaches to treating mental disease. While, the author wants the book to be accessible to the medical professional and layperson alike, large portions of the book seem beyond what most non-medical people want or need. Still, the book is fantastic for putting so much information about mental illness and brain function into perspective, especially with regards to the debate between nature/nurture and psychodynamic/biological views of human psychology. My only real complaint is that a new edition has not been published to include what has been learned in the decades since Broken Brain was first written. I am absolutely glad I read this book and even if you are not in the medical field, I think it is definitely worth the read if you are interested in developing a better understanding of mental illness and the brain.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time to read this one again.

[Amanda Christian]

Great read from non brain person.

[Robert A. Binger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it may get a bit confusing or dry at times, this book is a great read regarding the neurological view of psychology.