The Sickening Mind: Brain, Behaviour, Immunity and Disease - Paperback

by Paul Martin (Author)

'A masterpiece of popularization' Times Literary Supplement

'A fascinating account, based on objective scientific research, of the ways in which mental states affect the individual's liability to disease... Martin is a highly civilised scientist, who seasons his text with witty parentheses. He also provides many examples from literature, ranging widely from Shakespeare, Goethe and Hardy to Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Kafka... Interesting, informative and a pleasure to read.' ANTHONY STORR, Sunday Times

'Excellent' JON TURNEY, Financial Times

'This most accessible account of a difficult subject blows away some prejudices and pleasingly justifies others... Martin is a biologist whose style is considerate of the layman...and it is a tribute to his own benignly infectious enthusiasm for his subject that his closing thoughts are encouraging... Remarkable.' ALAN JUDD, Daily Telegraph

'Compelling... Balanced and impressively up to date... The tone of voice, the open-minded but critical intelligence should uplift the quality of the debate... Martin's lucid account of possible mechanisms of the connections between mental states and personality traits and illnesses is a notable triumph of his book... Excellent.' RAYMOND TALLIS, Times Literary Supplement

Back Jacket

'A fascinating account, based on objective scientific research, of the ways in which mental states affect the individual's liability to disease... Martin has admirably succeeded in demonstrating "that our mental state and physical health are inexorably intertwined" ... He is a highly civilised scientist, who seasons his text with witty parentheses. He also provides many examples from literature, ranging widely from Shakespeare, Goethe and Hardy to Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Kafka... Interesting, informative and a pleasure to read.'
ANTHONY STORR, 'Sunday Times'

'Excellent... Martin's book is a powerful reminder of the need for disciplined thinking in the face of the irreducible complexity of our bodies and minds, in sickness and in health.'
JON TURNEY, 'Financial Times'

'This most accessible account of a difficult subject blows away some prejudices and pleasingly justifies others... Martin is a biologist whose style is considerate of the layman... and it is a tribute to his own benignly infectious enthusiasm for his subject that his closing thoughts are encouraging... Remarkable.'
ALAN JUDD, 'Daily Telegraph'

'Compelling... Balanced and impressively up to date... The tone of voice, the open-minded but critical intelligence should uplift the quality of the debate... Martin's lucid account of possible mechanisms of the connections between mental states and personality traits and illnesses is a notable triumph of his book... Excellent.'
RAYMOND TALLIS, 'Times Literary Supplement'

Author Biography

Paul Martin, PhD, is a former Cambridge lecturer in biology and Fellow of Wolfson College who received many awards and scholarships for his ground-breaking psychobiological research, but who tired of the stultifying life of the Oxbridge academic to become a governmental policy analyst. His previous book, co-authored with Patrick Bateson, is Measuring Behaviour (CUP, 1986; 2nd edn, 1993).