This volume contains the principal elements preoccupying modern psychiatry. The author introduces the listener to all mental illnesses, on the one hand through real examples derived from his rich clinical experience and on the other explaining in simple terms the fault that is the underlying cause. It is in essence an interesting investigation into the magical world of the human brain.

Using easily comprehended language, the author provides convincing explanations for the diverse mental functions. The models he expounds on bring mental illness down to earth from the mists of philosophy to the realities of medicine. He compares schizophrenia to a minor short circuit and anorexia nervosa to the activation of a program in reserve in the brain. He gives reasons for the necessity for sleep and dreams.

Other than a doctor, however, Pavlos Sakkas is a person intensively querying social behavior. His many years of practice of psychiatry and his experience of human pain give him the potential to be of assistance to those who arrive at crucial crossroads in their lives. His charitable attitude and the unconventional viewpoints he develops provide interesting answers to the greatest existentialist questioning of human beings. He speaks of his own questioning and recounts what he answers when his patients ask him about the meaning of life.