What Mental Illness Really Is… (And What It Isn’t) Audiobook By Lucy Foulkes cover art

What Mental Illness Really Is… (And What It Isn’t)

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What Mental Illness Really Is… (And What It Isn’t)

By: Lucy Foulkes
Narrated by: Lucy Foulkes
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

We need to rethink the conversation around mental health—psychologist Lucy Foulkes explores how and why.

How do mental health problems arise?

How do we distinguish between the 'normal' challenges of modern life and actual illness?

Is society really experiencing a new mental health crisis?

In this urgently needed book, psychologist Lucy Foulkes investigates what we know about mental illness—and shines a light on what we don't. It offers a profound new approach to how we think, talk and help when it comes to mental health.

(Previously published in 2021 under the title Losing Our Minds.)

©2022 Lucy Foulkes (P)2022 Penguin Audio Anxiety Disorders Mental Health Mood Disorders Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
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Critic reviews

"A must-read.... Fascinating." (Jo Brand)

"Captivating...engaging and lucid." (Sarah-Jayne Blakemore)

"Clear-headed, compassionate and, ultimately, optimistic." (Mark Haddon)

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"What Mental Illness Really Is..." is a valiant effort by Dr Lucy Foulkes to explain what mental illness is, what causes mental illness, what treatment options are available (and which ones work), and to give hope to those suffering from mental illness (as well as giving helpful tips to friends and family). I regard the book as the 2nd best book on mental illness ever written – 2nd only to Johann Hari's "Lost Connections". Having said that, it's a very distant second indeed.

Overall, I feel that Dr Foulkes was very well intentioned in what she wrote, and that she tried her utmost – and I don't mean this is in a patronising way at all. I appreciated the way that Dr Foulkes wrote in a nuanced manner and always gave caveats when these were warranted.

The best thing about the book is that Dr Foulkes avoids the traps of 'over-reaching', over-generalising, and going beyond what is known from evidence-based health. The worst aspect of the book are the chapters on adolescence (ch 6) and social media (ch 7).

But instead of reading the book at all, I strongly feel that one would be better off listening to Dr Foulkes 2022 talk at The Royal Institution: "What's Going Wrong With Mental Health Awareness?". This talk (just under 50 minutes long) is available for free on YouTube and has been viewed over 1 million times.

An accurate summary of what mental illness is.

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