The Divided Self

Published in 1960, this book set out to render madness understandable, and its impact reshaped how mental illness is viewed. Drawing on case studies of patients under his care, the Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing contended that psychosis is not simply a disease of the body or brain. He located its roots in the "divided self": an inner tension between a person's genuine, hidden sense of who they are and a constructed, outwardly acceptable persona shown to the world.

The book is written for readers interested in the nature of mental distress, whether they are students, clinicians or general readers curious about what lies behind diagnoses. Laing approaches his subject through existential philosophy, asking how the experience of being a self in relation to others can break down into psychosis.