Kelly Brogan, MD

A Mind Of Your Own

Interview by Kristen Noel

March 24, 2016, New Canaan, CT

Photographs by Bill Miles

Release fear and all that it prevents you from doing. Instead, cultivate your intuition and combine it with this newly discovered knowledge and you will no longer be dependent on any medication, any doctor, or even any system. You’ll be in your power. This is the new medicine. It’s a revolutionary paradigm that makes the old one obsolete.

~ Kelly Brogan, MD

 _______________________

Kristen:

Literally hot off the publishing presses, this book, A Mind of Your Own: The Truth About Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives, has caused quite a stir – perhaps not in the way you had envisioned.

Kelly:

[Laughing] That’s my specialty.

Kristen:

You make some pretty bold statements in this book. Let’s deep dive right into that. You speak specifically about depression, antidepressants, big Pharma companies, the present medical system, and the corruption of modern psychiatry. You say that, “Depression is merely a symptom, a sign that something is off balance or ill in the body that needs to be remedied.” And go on to say, “I’m convinced that the pharmaceutical industry and its bedfellows, have created an illusion of science where none exists, in the service of profit over professional responsibility.”

I couldn’t put this book down. It’s like a sassy medical text. And while this conversation of supporting our body’s innate wisdom may sound ‘woo-woo’ to some, like a conspiracy theory to others — I think this is a good time for me to introduce the fact that you have one of the most impressive resumes of credentials; you provide the science to back this up [holding book] to substantiate these claims.

You have studied cognitive neuroscience at MIT before graduating from Weill Cornell Medical College and completed your psychiatric training and fellowship at NYU Medical Center. You are board certified in psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine and integrative holistic medicine.

Damn Girl.

Kelly:

[Laughing] It’s an expensive trajectory.

Kristen:

You don’t even look old enough to have done all of that, but I digress. You are, additionally, one of the only doctors in the nation with these qualifications. I began with the claims you make in the book and back it up with the science, because everyone wants to know about the science. And girl, you’ve got the science and the education – and people are listening.

I want to start off by thanking you for writing the book, I want to thank your publisher for publishing the book, and now I want to move into thanking your grassroots movement.

Kelly:

Amen

Kristen:

The day after your book published, it sold out on Amazon. And now [at the time of the interview] we are 9 days in and on the way here this morning, I received an email notifying me that you will debut at #10 on The New York Times bestseller’s list.

Kelly:

Yes. [smiling and high-fiving!]

Kristen:

Amen. We’re done here.

Kelly:

It’s shocking. And it really is not only a testament to the readiness of this information, but also the power of communication, communities and the Internet. The information is out there if you want it. We don’t need to be filtered and spoon-fed our information about our health from corporations with profit-bearing interests.

Kristen:

OK, let’s reel it back a minute. You have this incredible book in you, you get it out and get it to a fabulous publisher, they publish it immediately and everyone is all excited — everyone anticipates fanfare and coverage and then what happens?

Kelly:

Well, I actually anticipated this because I have been involved in the activism world for a number of years. I understand the concept of enmeshment, particularly around the fiduciary responsibility that some corporations have to their shareholders, and the fact that there is sponsorship for almost all of the mainstream media outlets by the pharmaceutical industry. I told Harper Collins don’t expect to see me on and .