The Unfragile Mind (Hardback)

Making Sense of Mental Health

Gavin Francis

A deeply human and compassionate re-evaluation of mental illness from the GP and bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being

'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.

Publication date: 12/02/2026

£18.99

ISBN: 9781800819757

Imprint: Wellcome Collection

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, Health & Wellbeing, Science & Mathematics

The Unfragile Mind (Ebook)

Making Sense of Mental Health

Gavin Francis

Preorder from

A deeply human and compassionate re-evaluation of mental illness from the GP and bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being

'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.

Publication date: 12/02/2026

£15.99

ISBN: 9781800819764

ISBN 10 / ASIN: B0FJZ3CYFB

Imprint: Wellcome Collection

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, Health & Wellbeing, Science & Mathematics

The Unfragile Mind (Audiobook)

Making Sense of Mental Health

Gavin Francis

Preorder from

A deeply human and compassionate re-evaluation of mental illness from the GP and bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being

'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.

Publication date: 12/02/2026

£24.99

ISBN: 9781805228882

Imprint: Wellcome Collection

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, Health & Wellbeing, Science & Mathematics

Reviews for The Unfragile Mind

'Praise for Recovery: '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 

Gavin Francis

Gavin Francis

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.

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