THE MIND AND THE MOON

A personal and studied reckoning with “the cost of our belief in biological psychiatry.”

New York Times Magazine contributing writer Bergner credits his latest book to his younger brother, Bob, whose struggles with mental health led the author to this undertaking. Were it not for Bob, writes the author, “I would never have met the scientists who study our brains with the ultimate hope not only of treating our conditions but of understanding our minds, of crossing that chasm between…what we’re made of and who we are.” Bergner interweaves science—historical and current—with narratives focused on a handful of people, Bob included, all of whom were told they would need psychotropic medications for the rest of their lives; additionally, he adds his own insights and quotes a bevy of sources. Two of his subjects, Caroline and David, reveal their battles with psychosis, depression, anxiety, paranoia, and suicidal ideation as well as their experiences on and off medications, including the side effects and brutal withdrawal symptoms. The author unpacks the history of first- and second-generation psychiatric drugs and some of the financially motivated coverups of their manufacturers, and he reveals studies proving the stunning efficacy of placebos in treating depression. Bergner devotes many pages to conversations with and the work of neuroscientists Eric Nestler and Donald Goff, who are searching for new ways to treat depression and psychotic conditions. In a talk with Goff about Caroline, Bergner notes the doctor’s language: “has she been tried on was certainly a striking construction, distinguishable from has she tried. She was the object, not the subject, of the sentence, the recipient, not the one deciding.” Ultimately, Bergner concludes, “psychiatry cannot fully hear individuality so long as the profession clings to scientific authority. To listen, to truly listen, the profession would have to let go. It would have to embrace the idea of working with patients, of proceeding on footing that is more equal than not, even when with is elusive.”

An inescapably relevant and resonant journey into the impacts of our limited understanding of the mind.