Bluhm Lecture: Paranoia

Lecturer in Psychiatry and researcher at McLean Hospital-Harvard Medical School since 1994, Dr. Leonardo Tondo has studied the course and treatment of mood disorders since 1975. He has published more than 200 papers on these subjects in international journals and has lectured at schools and professional conferences the world over. In addition to being a leading expert on long-term treatment of mood disorders and medical approaches to suicide prevention, he also provides individual patients with the evaluation and treatment (both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic) of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Attention and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults, and Gender and relational issues.

In 1977, he established a specialized, research-based, mood-disorders clinic, the Lucio Bini Mood Disorder Center (named for one of the inventors of electroconvulsive treatment), in Cagliari, Sardinia. It is the largest private psychiatric institution of its kind in the region and one of the largest in Europe. He also has taught university courses in clinical psychiatry, general and clinical psychology, and psychological testing for more than thirty years.

An avid reader of European and American history and literature, he will bring the fruit of his many years of reading, research and clinical practice to illuminate the multi-faceted phenomenon of paranoia, which represents not only a severe mental illness, but also a major factor in the shaping of human history. He will draw especially on his most recent and comprehensive study of paranoia, Qualcuno ce l'ha con me. Dal pregiudizio alla paranoia (Milan: Baldini e Castoldi, 2017).