The Sickening Mind: Brain, Behaviour, Immunity and Disease

The Sickening Mind: Brain, Behaviour, Immunity and Disease
Paul Martin

‘A masterpiece of popularization’ Times Literary Supplement‘A fascinating account, based on objective scientific research, of the ways in which mental states affect the individual’s liability to disease… Martin is a highly civilised scientist, who seasons his text with witty parentheses. He also provides many examples from literature, ranging widely from Shakespeare, Goethe and Hardy to Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Kafka… Interesting, informative and a pleasure to read.’ ANTHONY STORR, Sunday Times‘Excellent’ JON TURNEY, Financial Times‘This most accessible account of a difficult subject blows away some prejudices and pleasingly justifies others… Martin is a biologist whose style is considerate of the layman…and it is a tribute to his own benignly infectious enthusiasm for his subject that his closing thoughts are encouraging… Remarkable.’ ALAN JUDD, Daily Telegraph‘Compelling… Balanced and impressively up to date… The tone of voice, the open-minded but critical intelligence should uplift the quality of the debate… Martin’s lucid account of possible mechanisms of the connections between mental states and personality traits and illnesses is a notable triumph of his book… Excellent.’ RAYMOND TALLIS, Times Literary Supplement

PAUL MARTIN

The Sickening Mind

Brain, Behaviour, Immunity and Disease

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_593fa15e-b8ce-5049-9c2b-09a4f6060d01)

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

This edition published by HarperPress 2005

First published in the UK by HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997

Copyright © Paul Martin, 1997

Paul Martin has asserted the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

The author and publishers are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce material: International Music Publications Limited, for ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’ by Ian Drury and Chas Jankel, © 1977 Temple Mill Music Ltd, Warner/Chappell Music Ltd; Hall, J.G., ‘Emotion and immunity’ Lancet, 2, 326–327, © The Lancet Ltd., (1985); extracts from Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett by permission A. P. Watt Ltd., on behalf of Mme V. Eldin; extracts from The Man with the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming by permission Glidrose Publications Ltd, © Glidrose Productions Ltd 1965; extract from Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome by permission A. P. Watt Ltd., on behalf of The Society of Authors Ltd.; extracts from Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell by permission A. M. Heath & Co. Ltd, copyright © The Estate of the late Sonia Brownell Orwell and Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd; extract from Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller by permission Reed Publishers, © Arthur Miller 1949; extract from ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ from The Poems by Dylan Thomas by permission David Higham Associates: originally published by J. M. Dent; Thanks also to Harriet Wasserman Literary Agency Inc., for permission to quote from Seize the Day by Saul Bellow; Macmillan General Books, for Jude the Obscure and The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. Every reasonable effort has been made to contact copyright holders for all the extracts reproduced in this volume. However, it has not been possible to make contact with all copyright holders. The author and publishers would ask, therefore, that any copyright holder who feels a quotation contained herein may contravene their copyright contact HarperCollinsPublishers at the address above.

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Source ISBN: 9780006550228

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2016 ISBN: 9780007383658

Version: 2016-02-25

CONTENTS

COVER (#ucfcd9867-7e36-5221-980d-528be6037882)

TITLE PAGE (#udd919c18-831b-56f8-a77b-2b349e51a246)

COPYRIGHT (#uba606cf8-c586-587b-968b-5d112ce88b97)

1 The Body of Knowledge (#ud26d3cc4-3b7f-55fa-9782-e3acf5552f8b)

Opening shots (#ulink_361cd1f3-1180-5376-bd98-12d51508f07e)

Iraqi SCUDs and Chinese grandmothers (#ulink_a03a0375-bb36-56e8-9b42-cfb72302d522)

Roundheads and Cavaliers (#ulink_011df192-260c-55b1-b532-878cbbd23a63)

Some completely fictitious case histories (#ulink_cbdc7471-a244-5760-b409-2bb00e475860)

Invisible worms (#ulink_5f3dedd9-3ba1-56cf-af99-157987a589a8)

Chronic fatigue syndrome (#ulink_73c02687-43b8-5972-b949-9a8fd38127f4)

2 Shadows on the Sun (#ubc6a8713-70d3-5079-94ae-6d52e99eb748)

Death, disaster and voodoo (#ulink_79bccec0-a415-5389-b691-78aa06a37b76)

Trouble, strife and sickness (#ulink_d6201d15-ce08-52f8-9afd-395d324b0ae5)

Life events (#ulink_85b3ee42-9a10-5f71-86ae-a9181b1e2470)

The mind and the common cold (#ulink_04c04a16-7bbc-595d-a4cb-8cb2a1ecf99d)

3 Psyche’s Machine: The Inside Story (#ue680ba01-4ae0-52d5-b453-64de2c02446a)

The perception of sickness (#ulink_38148d81-a026-5676-a8a0-6da6aa4d98ad)

Bad behaviour (#ulink_1597396e-0015-50be-ab30-a3c6773d2551)

Mind over immune matter (#ulink_0d633df9-32f2-56cf-b436-768561095379)

Understanding immunity (#ulink_834fa598-d874-5d3f-8179-47014b2f6793)

Autoimmunity (#ulink_5534e5bf-a953-5781-962a-c137163d3960)

Measuring immunity (#ulink_7a76037b-032b-5cc8-8d80-0c668590994c)

The mind – immunity connections (#ulink_d9c0de52-48c2-5f53-ab6b-906615b95fc9)

4 Mind and Immunity (#u3593387a-d114-56d6-b8ea-0c6ccbeb1021)

What can the mind do to the immune system? (#ulink_029cb533-faa3-505c-96c5-d79dc540e8ff)

Bereavement and nuclear disasters (#ulink_526114b1-cdea-562d-8fd4-d81dd0f7c99c)

Spaceflight, exams and other nastiness (#litres_trial_promo)

Does it matter? (#litres_trial_promo)

What can the immune system do to the mind? (#litres_trial_promo)

Depression (#litres_trial_promo)