The Unfragile Mind

Name: The Unfragile Mind
Price: 39.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781800819757

Making Sense of Mental Health

Gavin Francis

$39.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Wellcome Collection
12 May 2026

Social & political philosophy; Psychology; Mental health services; Popular medicine & health; Coping with illness

'Francis combines the precision of science with a profound insight into the human condition' GUARDIAN FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ADVENTURES IN HUMAN BEING AND RECOVERY Between a quarter and a fifth of young people in the UK now suffer a mental disorder. One in four adults are prescribed psychiatric medication. These numbers represent a huge and recent expansion in mental health labelling,

but reveal nothing of the experience of those seeking help.

In The Unfragile Mind, Gavin draws on conversations with patients, colleagues, and his thirty years of practice to explore the chequered history of psychiatry, the nature of mental health and ill-health, and the problems - including mood disorders, trauma, anxiety and addiction - that he addresses daily.

The mind, he argues, is dynamic and adaptive - better addressed not with rigid labels and protocols, but with curiosity, kindness, humility and hope.

By: Gavin Francis
Imprint: Wellcome Collection
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 220mm, Width: 134mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 409g
ISBN: 9781800819757
ISBN 10: 1800819757
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 12 May 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Dr Gavin Francis is a GP and urgent care physician with a special interest in mental health. He is the bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being, Shapeshifters and Intensive Care. He writes about health and medicine for the Guardian, London Review of Books and the Times, among others.

Reviews for The Unfragile Mind: Making Sense of Mental Health

Fascinating and beautifully written * The Times * I thought Gavin Francis couldn't get any better, but I was wrong. This is his best and most important book -- Bill Bryson Dr Gavin Francis writes with empathy, fluency and elegance about one of the most important medical topics of our times. This is a book to change lives - and save them A manifesto against an atomised society... a really hopeful book * Evening Standard * Elucidating... offers new perspectives on the maintenance of mental health * Sunday Post * Excellent - beautifully written, moving and wise. Everybody with an interest in mental health should read it -- Henry Marsh, author of AND FINALLY: A NEUROSURGEON'S REFLECTIONS ON LIFE Gavin Francis' thoughtfulness shines in this meditation on the mind ... a clear and hopeful exploration of what it means to think and feel -- Grace Spence Green, author of TO EXIST AS I AM Praise for Gavin Francis: 'Francis offers hope and a rare and precious quiet form of consolation * Observer * Heartfelt and persuasively argued * Sunday Times * Wise, gentle and quietly hopeful -- Rachel Clarke, author of The Story of a Heart