Has Medicine Lost Its Mind?

“Smith makes a convincing case for paying more attention to patients’ mental health.” ~Booklist

“Somewhere along its journey through millennia, medicine lost track of the centrality of mental health in human wellness. The cost in needless suffering and avoidable death has been immense. Full of compelling patient stories and historical detail, Has Medicine Lost Its Mind? explains how we got here, why it matters, and what to do about it. This book is essential reading for anyone who cares about reuniting care for both the mind and the body, and anyone who has experienced the costs of failing to do so.” ~Don Berwick, MD, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, founding president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and former candidate for governor of Massachusetts

“Mental health has long been an orphan in health care. In this timely book, Robert C. Smith argues that, now more than ever, health care needs to integrate mental and physical health. Smith shares wisdom from patients, physicians, and philosophers to remind us that splitting the mind from the body neglects both. No health without mental health has long been a refrain from mental health advocates. In this important book, Smith draws on a lifetime of experience to show us how to integrate mental and physical health to create whole-person care.” ~Thomas Insel, MD, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health and author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health

“Has Medicine Lost Its Mind? tells the depressing story of our nation’s failed mental health system. Like a psychoanalyst delving deep into the origin of a patient’s problem, Smith explores the history beginning with mental health’s infancy and the mind-body split. And as with all unresolved mental health issues, he explains how ignoring them has made their current manifestations dramatically worse. Anyone who has ever been anxious or depressed, or struggled with a family member suffering from a more serious psychological problem, will find comfort in the solutions he proposes.” ~Dr. Robert Pearl, professor at Stanford University Business and Medical School and author of Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients and ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients and Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine

“A passionate plea for reforming medical education from a doctor who has devoted his career to teaching student doctors how to listen to patients. Robert C. Smith now he goes on to describe the benefits that would flow if all physicians knew how to understand and help mental health problems. Patients would benefit, of course, but his proposal could also improve physician satisfaction and medicine as a whole.” ~Randolph Nesse, professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, a founder of the field of evolutionary medicine, and author of Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry

“The answer is a convincing ‘yes,’ medicine has lost its mind. But there is hope! Using data from important clinical studies and remarkable stories from his practice, Smith lays out the lament, a call to action, and a path to progress. This is an important and thought-provoking assessment and plan for anyone interested in how our mental health crisis became so bad and how we can solve it.” ~Aron Sousa, MD, FACP, Dean, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University

“This book offers a comprehensive understanding of the staggering neglect of the mental well-being of our nation’s people and an equally comprehensive prescription for solving this shortfall. Like a good systems thinker, Robert C. Smith ties it all together, from training to policymaking, from conversing with patients to adopting new paradigms of health. Smith brings to bear formidable knowledge, wisdom, and judgment, fifty years in the making, and offers us a coherent way forward—as citizens, patients, activists, clinicians, educators, and policymakers. I recommend this timely book to anyone who cares about the future of medicine, health care, or the health of the people in this nation.” ~Frank deGruy, MD, MSFM, distinguished professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine

“In this compelling book, Robert C. Smith, an internist and prominent figure in biopsychosocial medicine, advocates for transformative reform in the health care system. He emphasizes the need to integrate biopsychosocial principles into patient care to revive the true spirit of medicine. Smith shares his experiences and challenges during his medical training, which highlight the emotional consequences of feeling that he provided inadequate support for his patients, prompting him to rethink his approach to care. This thoughtful and well-written book will help readers understand the current health care crisis and the need for federal intervention to correct it.” ~Douglas A. Drossman, MD, professor emeritus of medicine and psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and CEO and president emeritus of the Rome Foundation