The search for our psyches: A new path forward in treating mental disorders

Jonathan Bastian talks with Daniel Bergner, contributing writer for the New York Times, about his brother’s struggle with bipolar disorder and how the search for a better understanding inspired his latest book, “The Mind and the Moon: My Brother’s Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches.”

“The propulsion of the book is just acknowledging and dealing with that family fear, which I know so intimately,” Bergner says. “Not preaching against medication but raising questions about the way we view our psyches, about the way we think about mental health, and about the limitations of medications.”

Bergner brings readers on a journey, following three people who experience varying mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and symptoms of psychosis. Bergner speaks with researchers and top neuroscientists asking why we are still so far behind in understanding the way the mind works, how this affects modern treatment options, and also makes the case for alternatives to biological psychiatry.

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