What Louise Thompson’s Lucky reveals about the mind-body connection

As an avid Made in Chelsea fan, Louise Thompson has always been on my radar, primarily for fitness tips and fashion inspiration. However, after reading her book Lucky on my commute to the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, I was surprised to find how thought-provoking it was for my research.

Louise's book recounts her traumatic birth with her son Leo, as well as the serious physical and mental health impacts that followed. There are many perspectives from which this book can be dissected: assessing limitations in the care she received; highlighting the impact of health issues on personal relationships; promoting the need for a personalised approach to mental health treatment. But as a cognitive neuroscientist studying the link between the body and the brain, what struck me most was the clear relevance of bodily signals in Louise's mental health presentation.

Mental health research has typically focused on cognitive symptoms, but the role of the body is gaining recognition. It is clear from Louise's account that bodily signals were core to her experience of trauma, both during traumatic events ('I couldn't slow my nervous system down at all') and reliving them ('I heard the same procedure happening to the lady in the next bed to me … and I could feel every second of that agony all over again'). At other times, she describes an inability to process bodily signals – 'I had no read on my body whatsoever' – a phenomenon common in mental health conditions and following trauma.

Another recurring theme in the book is the healthcare system's inability to address mental and physical health together. Traditionally, physical health has been viewed as a matter of the body, while mental health has been confined to the brain. It is becoming increasingly clear that this rigid divide is not only oversimplistic but also potentially harmful. 

In Louise's experience, this disconnect within the medical system impacted her care: 'I'd read so much literature on the connection between the [antidepressant] medications I was taking and the flare-ups I was experiencing with my bowel condition, but the psychiatrist just wouldn't acknowledge it'.

There is a broader point here. As scientists, we often conduct research in silos, without properly communicating with the people at the heart of the conditions we are investigating. For a long time, I have reflected on the importance of participatory research, research informed by lived experience insight. Louise's book is a wonderful example of how enlightening this can be. Personally, I have had far more fascinating revelations about my research when listening to peoples' experiences, compared to simply looking at their scores on questionnaires.

We do not yet have solutions to many of the scientific and healthcare questions raised in this book, and that is incredibly frustrating. But by listening to and acting on Louise's story – and the stories of other people affected by mental health conditions – we will get one step closer to understanding and preventing these experiences.

Reviewed by Dr Lydia Hickman
Research Associate, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge