Does modern medicine need to drop the distinction between mental and physical health? With Professor Edward Bullmore

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Nov 24, 2025

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Edward Bullmore

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INSIGHT

Schizophrenia Defined And Distinguished

Schizophrenia is a severe, often long-term psychotic disorder distinct from common anxiety or depression.
It typically emerges in early adulthood with hallucinations and delusions that disrupt reality testing.

INSIGHT

Psychosis Exists On A Spectrum

Brief psychotic experiences are common in young people seeking help but usually remit.
Only a minority with early symptoms progress to a year-long condition labeled schizophrenia.

ANECDOTE

History Of ‘Dementia Praecox’

Early psychiatric classification labeled schizophrenia "dementia praecox," implying inevitable decline.
That historical view contributed to eugenic policies and persecution under Nazi Germany.

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For centuries, mental and physical health have been divided - disorders of the mind and body have been treated as if they were poles apart. This deep-rooted division has shaped medicine, psychiatry, and society. But what if this mind/body split is not only outdated - but dangerously misleading?

Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Professor Edward Bullmore is Regius Professor of Psychiatry at Kings College London. For this episode, he sat down with Dr Güneş Taylor to explore the historical and philosophical reasons for our separation of mind and body in modern medicine. With a focus on the dark history of our treatment of schizophrenia, from 17th century medicine to the emergence of psychiatry in the 19th century, to the eugenics movement of Nazi Germany, he shows how the modern foundations of psychiatry were established, and how new scientific discoveries can help revolutionise how we treat mental illness.

The Divided Mind: Uncovering psychiatry's dark past - and reimagining it's future by Professor Edward Bullmore is available to buy now.

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