Virginia Woolf and Neuropsychiatry (PDF)

This book, written by one of the leaders in the field of the neurosciences, provides an explanation of the symptoms and eventual untimely suicide of one of literatures greatest authors; Virginia Woolf. The sources used are letters and statements from Woolf herself, the literature she wrote and comments, letters and any other documentation that refers to her mental state and her medical status. The author uses current insights into depression, the mental consequences of child abuse and drug interactions/effects to examine her life.

The book should appeal to researchers in the neurosciences, psychology and psychiatry as well as to a broader audience, mainly individuals who are interested in the life of this literary genius.

M. R. Bennett AO is Professor of Neuroscience and University Chair at the University of Sydney, Founding Director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute and Adjunct Professor of Neuropsychiatry. He is the author of many papers and books in neuroscience and neuropsychiatry, including The Idea of Consciousness (1997) and a History of the Synapse (2001) as well as more recently Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience (2003) and History of Cognitive Neuroscience (2008) with his colleague Peter Hacker. Maxwell Bennett has been President of the International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience, the Australian Neuroscience Society, as well as Chairing Brain and Mind Research Asia/Pacific. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research in neuroscience, including the Neuroscience Medal, the Ramaciotti Medal and the Macfarlane Burnet Medal.