I enjoyed parts of Inflamed Mind: A Radical New Approach to Depression by Edward Bullmore. It is very well written and has some good parts on the history of psychiatry.

However, I was disappointed by the way he presented his main thesis that inflammation is the main causative mechanism in major depression. His argument isn't very convincing and he doesn't provide evidence that is solid enough to support this. There is also a major straw man throughout the book. Bullmore claims that psychiatry is stuck in Cartesian dualism yet he doesn't discuss the biopsychosocial model and rejects any psychological explanation of depression as stigmatizing. The modern scientific way of thinking about the relationship between the mind and the brain is that all mental operations arise from functions of the brain, including higher functions.

Fortunately, he is careful not to offer false hope or push unlicensed or unsafe treatments on vulnerable patients.

This post is part of a challenge to write 150 blog posts of 150 words each this year. This is post 22 out of 150.