Can Medicine Be Cured

by Seamus O'Mahony

  My younger self would, I think, approve of my late apostasy. I like to think, too, that the shades of Ivan Illich, his disciple John Bradshaw, the Czech contrarian Petr Skrabanek and that scourge of lazy thinking Richard Asher are in some way appeased.

  We hope you enjoyed this book.

  Acknowledgements

  Bibliography

  Index

  About Seamus O’Mahony

  Also by Seamus O’Mahony

  An Invitation from the Publisher

  Acknowledgements

  My editor Neil Belton gave me unfailing encouragement and much valuable advice. Thanks also to Florence Hare at Head of Zeus, and to my agent Jonathan Williams. I have previously written on some of the themes of this book for the Dublin Review of Books and the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh: thanks to Maurice Earls and Enda O’Doherty at the DRB and to Rona Gloag, Allan Beveridge and Martyn Bracewell at the JRCPE. I thank John Wilson, who introduced me to the McNamara fallacy, and Eugene Cassidy, with whom I had an illuminating conversation about contemporary psychiatry. Richard Smith’s blogs, tweets, emails and conversations have been consistently inspiring. I am grateful to my colleagues – Orla Crosbie, Syed Akbar Zulquernain and Clifford Kiat – who have supported me in many practical ways. Thanks, as always, to Karen, James and Helena.

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