We have had the distinct pleasure of collaborating with Dr. David Pickar on client care for many years. Additionally, Dr. Pickar has been a guest blogger on several occasions and also serves on our Advisory Council. Among his many accolades, Dr. Pickar served in the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for over 20 years where he was the Chief of the Experimental Therapeutics Branch dedicated to studying schizophrenia and psychosis. This month we are celebrating the release of Dr. Pickar’s memoir by sharing this exclusive interview!
Q: WHAT IS THE TOPIC OF YOUR BOOK?
“Edges of the Mind: Treating Schizophrenia as Psychiatry Evolves tells the story of psychiatry’s transformation from a field dominated by psychoanalysis into a science-based branch of medicine. I explore that evolution through my experiences as a psychiatrist, researcher, and clinician, including much of my career at the NIH Clinical Center.
Although the book touches on several psychiatric illnesses, its central focus is schizophrenia, the most serious, disabling, and frequently misunderstood of mental disorders. I write about the development of antipsychotic medications, discoveries involving dopamine and other neurotransmitters, advances in genetics and neuroscience, and the complicated relationship among research, pharmaceutical companies, government policy, and patient care. At the heart of the book, however, are the patients and families whose lives are affected by serious mental illness.“
Q: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE A BOOK?
“I was inspired to write the book because I had witnessed and participated in an extraordinary period in the history of psychiatry. I wanted to preserve some of that history while also drawing attention to how much remains unfinished. Despite remarkable scientific advances, meaningful therapeutic progress in schizophrenia has been painfully slow. Too many people still receive incarceration or homelessness in place of treatment, and too many families are left to manage devastating illnesses with inadequate support.“
Q: WHAT DO YOU HOPE READERS WILL COME AWAY WITH?
“I hope readers come away with a clearer understanding of schizophrenia and a deeper appreciation for the humanity of the people who live with it. I also hope they recognize that science and compassionate clinical care cannot be separated. Research is most meaningful when it remains connected to the people it is intended to help.“
Q: CAN YOU GIVE US SOME BEHIND THE SCENES INSIGHTS?
“Writing the book involved finding a balance between several kinds of storytelling. I wanted to explain complicated science in a way that would be accessible to a general reader without oversimplifying it. At the same time, I wanted the patients and their experiences to remain at the center of the story. Reconstructing events from a long career, protecting people’s privacy, and deciding which stories best illustrated the evolution of psychiatry were all challenges. The process was not always smooth, but returning to the book’s central purpose connecting the science with the human experience helped me work through those roadblocks.“
Q: CAN YOU GIVE US ANY TEASERS?
“As for a teaser: readers will encounter patients whose realities are radically different from our own, including a young man whose psychosis led him to break into the Argentine embassy, take a shower, rearrange objects in the ambassador’s office, and leave a handgun in the bathroom. His actions appeared inexplicable from the outside, but within the internal logic of his psychosis, they had meaning.
There are also a few unexpected appearances—including Paul Newman, Mel Brooks, a senator, “Nurse Ratched,” and, yes, several jokes that may or may not be entirely appropriate. Psychiatry is serious work, but sometimes humor is what allows people to make it through the most difficult moments.
Ultimately, Edges of the Mind is not a technical manual or a story of easy victories. It is a record of work accomplished, work still unfinished, and the remarkable people encountered along the way. It is also an invitation to look at schizophrenia without fear or simplification and to recognize that the science matters, the people matter, and the time to act is now.“
We hope you enjoyed this exclusive interview and are inspired to purchase a copy of Dr. Pickar’s book which can be bought here.
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