We deeply mourn the passing of Dr Peter Charles Whybrow, who played a key role in the founding and shaping of the research in our Centre. He was a seminal figure in neuropsychiatry whose research reshaped the understanding and treatment of mood disorders. 

Beyond his life-changing research, his legacy will live on in a trilogy of prize-winning books that explore the impact of modern-day culture on human behaviour. In “A mood apart: A Thinkers Guide to Emotion and its Disorder” he explored the subject of human emotion and the widely misunderstood illnesses of depression and mania. The book recounts deeply personal stories of those who have suffered and successfully managed these illnesses to guide the reader in how to identify mood disorder and what to do when it emerges.

The following two books “American Mania: When More is Not Enough” and “The Well-Tuned Brain: Neuroscience and the Life Well Lived” explore the link between neuropsychiatric research on health and illness to larger cultural themes, e.g. making a connection between “manic” behaviour and America’s history as a self-selected migrant culture. 

In the Centre, we will continue to work with and expand his ideas of how best to balance brain and body with the use of whole-brain models of malign brain states. This may in time provide novel interventions that can reduce suffering and improve flourishing in neuropsychiatric patients.

Overall, his wisdom and kindness touched so many people’s lives and he will be greatly missed. 

Obituary in The Guardian Newspaper (8th October 2025).