• Question: Is there any novels about psychology or feature psychological themes which you would recommend

    Asked by anon-282368 on 5 Mar 2021.
    • Photo: Harry Piper

      Harry Piper answered on 5 Mar 2021:

      I’m not sure of any particular novels but psychology is anywhere! For example, people have written psychology of… books on TV shows such as Doctor Who! Because psychology is everywhere, you’ll be able to identify certain themes!

    • Photo: Alex Baxendale

      Alex Baxendale answered on 5 Mar 2021:

      If you want to read some super interesting studies about patients with brain damage then I recommend “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat” by Oliver Sacks. He explains encounters that he has had with patients and some of the amazing symptoms they have – the first patient could not see people’s faces or lots of objects together, and during an interview the man turned to put his hat on and grabbed his wife’s head thinking it was a hat!
      It’s not a novel and the names for the disorders can be confusing, but it’s a very weird and interesting read!

    • Photo: Ellen Smith

      Ellen Smith answered on 5 Mar 2021:

      I agree with Alex, ‘The man who mistook his wife for a hat’ is really interesting, but I do remember it took me a while to get into. Also not novels but I’d recommend ‘What’s normal anyway?’ by Anna Gekoski & Steve Broome, which is a collection of celebrities experiences of mental illness. And ‘The Psychopath test’ by Jon Ronson – I found all of these really interesting.

    • Photo: Dennis Relojo-Howell

      Dennis Relojo-Howell answered on 5 Mar 2021: last edited 5 Mar 2021 9:01 pm

      ‘Sybil’. It’s a 1973-book by Flora Rheta Schreiber. It was a required reading when I was at uni. It was about a woman who was afflicted with dissociative identity disorder (previously called multiple personality disoder).

      ‘On the Move’ by Oliver Sacks is also a good one.

    • Photo: Lisa Orchard

      Lisa Orchard answered on 8 Mar 2021:

      Hi Joe. It’s quite specific, but I love the book “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time” by Mark Haddon. It’s written from the perspective of a teenager with autism (although I don’t think this is explicit if I remember correctly) and gives an indication of the world from their perspective. It is so well written, and very enjoyable.

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