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

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 But what if this mind/body split is not only outdated - but dangerously misleading?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: A New Way of Thinking About Mental Health by Professor Edward Bullmore is available to buy now. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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1:27.7	What if the centuries-old divide
1:30.0	between mind and body isn't just wrong,
	...

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