Best Of: Diagnosing Mental Health and 'A Molecule Away from Madness' - a podcast by NPR

from 2022-04-10T10:43:18

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More than 50 million Americans each year suffer from neurodegenerative disorders, from Alzheimer's Disease to Huntington's Disease.

We speak with University of Pennsylvania neuroscientist Sara Manning Peskin about her new book, A Molecule Away from Madness: Tales of a Hijacked Brain. In it, she unpacks the molecular changes in our brain's chemistry that cause these diseases in Peskin weaves personal stories from her patients and their families into the history of researchers uncovering these illnesses.

We also speak with author Sarah Fay about her new book, Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses, which chronicles her uphill battle to find a reliable diagnosis.

In the book, Fay explores the limited tools available for pinpointing depression or anxiety.

We talk with Fay and a panel of experts about how we diagnose mental health.

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