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The Unfragile Mind

Making Sense of Mental Health

'The Unfragile Mind' book cover by Gavin Francis, depicting illustration of a person sat on an abstract hand, that itself is made of other figures.

Francis combines the precision of science with a profound insight into the human condition.

Guardian

A deeply human and compassionate re-evaluation of mental illness from the GP and bestselling author of ‘Adventures in Human Being’ and ‘Recovery’.

Between a quarter and a fifth of young people in the UK now suffer a mental disorder. One in four adults are prescribed psychiatric medication. These numbers represent a huge and recent expansion in mental health labelling, but reveal nothing of the experience of those seeking help.

In ‘The Unfragile Mind’, Gavin draws on conversations with patients, colleagues, and his thirty years of practice to explore the chequered history of psychiatry, the nature of mental health and ill-health, and the problems – including mood disorders, trauma, anxiety and addiction – that he addresses daily.

The mind, he argues, is dynamic and adaptive – better addressed not with rigid labels and protocols, but with curiosity, kindness, humility and hope.

Francis offers hope and a rare and precious quiet form of consolation.

Observer

Heartfelt and persuasively argued.

Sunday Times

Wise, gentle and quietly hopeful.

Rachel Clarke, author of ‘The Story of a Heart’

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Date published
Format
Hardback
Extent
304
ISBN
9781800819757

About the author

Photograph of Gavin Francis

Gavin Francis

Dr Gavin Francis is a GP and urgent care physician with a special interest in mental health. He is the bestselling author of ‘Adventures in Human Being’, ‘Shapeshifters’ and ‘Intensive Care’. He writes about health and medicine for the Guardian, London Review of Books and the Times, among others. His latest book, ‘The Unfragile Mind’, examines mental health, arguing for greater curiosity, humility, kindness, and hope in approaches to psychiatric diagnosis.