Reposted from Durham University’s Centre for Medical Humanities blog:
Fresh off the press is The Voices Within: The History and Science of how we Talk to Ourselves by Charles Fernyhough (Profile Books, 2016). We have two review copies available for contrasting perspectives, specifically for a voice hearer and either an academic researcher or mental health professional.
“We all hear voices. Ordinary thinking is often a kind of conversation, filling our heads with speech: the voices of reason, of memory, of self-encouragement and rebuke, the inner dialogue that helps us with tough decisions or complicated problems. For others – voice-hearers, trauma-sufferers and prophets – the voices seem to come from outside: friendly voices, malicious ones, the voice of God or the Devil, the muses of art and literature.
In The Voices Within, Royal Society Prize shortlisted psychologist Charles Fernyhough draws on extensive original research and a wealth of cultural touchpoints to reveal the workings of our inner voices, and how those voices link to creativity and development. From Virginia Woolf to the modern Hearing Voices Movement, Fernyhough also transforms our understanding of voice-hearers past and present.
Building on the latest theories, including the new ‘dialogic thinking’ model, and employing state-of-the-art neuroimaging and other ground-breaking research techniques, Fernyhough has written an authoritative and engaging guide to the voices in our heads.”
If you would like to review The Voices Within (no more than 1,000 words in length), then please consult our reviewer’s guidelines and email our reviews editor with a short explanation of why you are well placed to review the book.