Description

“[A] revolutionary road map for people suffering from depression, anxiety, bipolar disease . . . almost any brain disorder."
—Mark Hyman, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Young Forever

Discover the surprising link between your metabolism and mental health in this cutting-edge guide with practical advice for treatment and care.

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.

This groundbreaking guide pairs cutting-edge science with practical advice and strategies to help people reclaim their mental health. Inside, Palmer 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

• New treatments available today that readers can use to promote long-term healing

About the Author

Dr. Christopher M. Palmer is a Harvard psychiatrist and researcher working at the interface of 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 over 25 years, he has worked with people who have treatment-resistant mental illness using 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, writing, and speaking around the world on this topic. More broadly, he is interested in the roles of metabolism and metabolic interventions on brain health. He has developed the first comprehensive theory of what causes mental illness, integrating existing theories and research into one unifying theory—the brain energy theory of mental illness.