Has medicine lost its mind? Did it ever even have it?
Modern medicine rests on a centuries‑old decision to split mind from body. That fault line still runs through every clinic and classroom, raising an uncomfortable question: if the foundation ignores half of human experience, how scientific are we really? On a recent episode of Causes or Cures, I chatted with physician‑author Dr Robert Smith about why his new book Has Medicine Lost Its Mind? argues it is time to reunite what never should have been divided.
What we cover in the episode:
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- The Great Split: A medieval Church decree let scientists dissect bodies but barred them from the head, setting up the mental‑vs‑physical divide that still guides clinical practice.
- Primary‑Care Patchwork: Family doctors now manage roughly 75 percent of U.S. mental‑health care despite minimal formal training in mental health.
- Medicalizing Real‑Life Messes: Trauma, chronic stress, and tough social conditions often get reframed as diseases because the system lacks better options.
- The “Complex” Patient Label: How “complex” often translates to “we’re overwhelmed and don’t know what’s really wrong.”
- Culture on Autopilot: Rituals, hierarchy, and resistance to change can block genuine healing even when evidence points elsewhere.
- A Way Forward: The biopsychosocial model that addresses lab values and life stories—and what it would take for mainstream medicine to embrace it.
If you have ever felt that your doctor’s office visit left half of you outside the exam room, press play and join the conversation about what real, whole‑person healthcare could look like.
Who is Dr. Smith?
Dr. Robert C. Smith is a nationally acclaimed authority on evidence‑based mental health care and doctor–patient communication. A University Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at Michigan State University, he pioneered the first patient‑centered training approach that teaches clinicians how to forge strong, collaborative relationships with their patients. His contributions have earned him numerous honors, including Master status from the American College of Physicians and the prestigious George Engel Award for Outstanding Research. Dr. Smith has authored more than 150 peer‑reviewed articles and continues to garner hundreds of academic citations each year. His expertise has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Today Show, and he writes regularly for Psychology Today.
After you listen to this episode, you may want to check out the following:
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