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Head First

A Psychiatrist's Stories of Mind and Body

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Head First

By: Alastair Santhouse
Narrated by: Alastair Santhouse
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About this listen

What does it mean to be well? Is it something in our body? Or, is it rather something subjective - something of the mind? In this profound collection of clinical stories, eminent psychiatrist Dr Alastair Santhouse draws on his experience of treating thousands of hospital patients to show how our emotions are inextricably linked to our physical wellbeing.

Our minds shape the way we understand and react to symptoms that we develop, dictate the treatments we receive and influence whether they work. They even influence whether we develop symptoms at all. Written with brutal honesty, deep compassion and a wry sense of humour, Head First examines difficult cases that illuminate some of our most puzzling and controversial medical issues - from the tragedy of suicide, to the stigma surrounding obesity, to the ongoing misery of chronic fatigue. Ultimately he finds that our medical model has failed us by promoting specialisation and overlooking perhaps the single most important component of our health: our state of mind.

©2021 Alastair Santhouse (P)2021 Atlantic Books from W. F. Howes Ltd Brain & Nervous System Mental Health Neuroscience & Neuropsychology Physical Illness & Disease Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Health

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All stars
Most relevant  
a variety of common occurrences in the working experience of a liaison psychiatrist. simply written and insightful for those outside the field.

the life of a liaison psychiatrist

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I really enjoyed reading this. Using real life patient stories to illustrate how different aspects of psychiatry are used made things really relatable. Although there are some challenging topics (suicide, depression etc) each story is told with compassion. I appreciated the moments of humour too, they saved this book from being too dark! This book is definitely a ‘two or three reader’ as there is a lot of detail. I’m sure there are things I missed on the first read so I’m looking forward to reading it again. Many thanks to the author 😊

Informative, funny and compassionate

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A really interesting and thought provoking book about how mental and physical health are inseparable, even though doctors and patients still treat them as 2 different things. Many fascinating cases described with compassion and insight.

interesting and thought provoking book

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Compassionate and thoughtful stories of a psychiatrist working in a general hospital taking a fresh holistic approach.

Brilliant insight in contemporary medicine in the UK

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Highly recommended for all doctors and potential patients out there, and anyone who ever had a symptom.

Essential reading

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Compelling stories on pressing human themes by a thoughtful and witty author. I really enjoyed the reading which was hard to switch off

Excellent stories from a medical psychiatrist

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Engaging, absorbing and accessible. I shall be listening to it again from the start; I found it enormously stimulating and educating. Dr Santhouse is the perfect narrator of his own work.

Outstanding

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This book is so interesting and relevant to everyone.
We all get tension headaches or stomach aches from anxiety etc, as our mind has a huge effect on our body.
Santhouse takes us on this incredible jouney via the patients that he has helped over the years and clearly explains what goes on in the lives of us, normal real people.
He genuinely cares about his patients and their futures. He is wise and reflective and shares his thoughts in a simple easy to read way. His thoughts on Covid too are fascinating.
He is reading this book himself and it is as though he is on the phone recounting his story.

Best book I have read in absolutely ages.

Superb and fascinating book - a summer must-read!

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So dull...nothing new or interesting. 9 hours of nothing but passed out boredom. Very disappointed. Waste of a credit.

Really not worth a credit...

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Written by a Tory Tw*t. Now that he’s a doctor he’s above us all and we are all wasting resources by seeing our GPS While he drives off in his Porche

Anti Patient anti NHS

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