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Shop nowBrain Energy
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Learn moreThis is the book that will forever change the way we understand and treat mental health. If you or someone you love is affected by mental illness, it might change your life.
We are in the midst of a global mental health crisis, and mental illnesses are on the rise. But what causes mental illness? And why are mental health problems so hard to treat? Drawing on decades of research, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer outlines a revolutionary new understanding that for the first time unites our existing knowledge about mental illness within a single framework: mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain.
Brain Energy explains this new understanding of mental illness in detail, from symptoms and risk factors to what is happening in brain cells. Palmer also sheds light on the new treatment pathways this theory opens up—which apply to all mental disorders, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, alcoholism, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, autism, and even schizophrenia. Brain Energy pairs cutting-edge science with practical advice and strategies to help people reclaim their mental health.
This groundbreaking book reveals:
why classifying mental disorders as “separate” conditions is misleading;
the clear connections between mental illness and disorders linked to metabolism, including diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, pain disorders, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, and epilepsy;
the link between metabolism and every factor known to play a role in mental health, including genetics, inflammation, hormones, neurotransmitters, sleep, stress, and trauma;
the evidence that current mental health treatments, including both medications and therapies, likely work by affecting metabolism; and
new treatments available today that readers can use to promote long-term healing.
Palmer puts together the pieces of the mental illness puzzle to provide answers and offer hope. Brain Energy will transform the field of mental health, and the lives of countless people around the world.
Christopher M. Palmer, MD, is a Harvard psychiatrist and researcher working at the interface between metabolism and mental health. He is the director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. For more than two decades, he has held leadership roles in psychiatric education at Harvard, McLean Hospital, and nationally. He spent more than 15 years conducting neuroscience research in the areas of substance use and sleep disorders. On top of these academic pursuits, he has continued to practice psychiatry, working with people who have treatment-resistant mental disorders using a variety of standard treatments. He has been pioneering the use of the medical ketogenic diet in the treatment of psychiatric disorders—conducting research in this area, treating patients, publishing academic articles, and speaking globally on this topic. Most recently, he has developed the first comprehensive theory of what causes mental illness, integrating biological, psychological, and social research into one unifying theory—the brain energy theory of mental illness.
Christopher M. Palmer, MD, is a Harvard psychiatrist and researcher working at the interface between metabolism and mental health. He is the director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. For more than two decades, he has held leadership roles in psychiatric education at Harvard, McLean Hospital, and nationally. He spent more than 15 years conducting neuroscience research in the areas of substance use and sleep disorders. On top of these academic pursuits, he has continued to practice psychiatry, working with people who have treatment-resistant mental disorders using a variety of standard treatments. He has been pioneering the use of the medical ketogenic diet in the treatment of psychiatric disorders—conducting research in this area, treating patients, publishing academic articles, and speaking globally on this topic. Most recently, he has developed the first comprehensive theory of what causes mental illness, integrating biological, psychological, and social research into one unifying theory—the brain energy theory of mental illness.
Reviews
“Psychiatry will never be the same…Christopher Palmer poses the hypothesis, supports it with data, and, in my humble opinion, nails the treatment: Feed the brain what it needs.”
“Brain Energy is a book all psychiatric professionals should read as a useful criticism of our field’s major deficits. It is a book all people should read to understand how much they can do (and not do) for the sake of their mental health.”
“Brain Energy provides a long-awaited unifying mechanism underlying a vast spectrum of mental illness conditions. And this new paradigm will undoubtedly usher in potent therapeutic interventions for pervasive psychiatric conditions for which standard pharmaceutical approaches have proven minimally effective.”
“Brain Energy is a dramatic breakthrough in understanding mental illness by a leading Harvard psychiatrist who provides a revolutionary road map for people suffering from depression, anxiety, bipolar disease, [and] in fact, almost any brain disorder.”
“Takes a provocative and insightful look into the origins of mental disorders, which have profound implications for how we treat the disease.”
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