Headstrong

What happens in your body and brain during ‘burnout’ and how to recover

Brankele Frank thought she could do it all. Combining a career as a neurobiologist with a job as a strategic consultant for McKinsey? Writing for newspapers and magazines? No problem, there was still enough time for a triathlon. But when her life comes to a screeching halt her first concern is recovery. After a while, Frank begins to search for answers.

Non-Fiction
Author
Brankele Frank
Original title
Over de kop

What does one experience during burnout? Frank starts thinking about her experiences from a scientific point of view. She is, after all, a neurobiologist, interested in the human brain and its limitations. The decision to write a book about her experiences turns out to be much more difficult than she thought. It is some time before she dares to admit to herself that writing the book has triggered a second collapse.

At this point, the story becomes heart-wrenching to read. Frank is still looking for scientific answers, but her search turns into something personal. The result is a lucid study of her brain, as well as an analysis of a widespread phenomenon. Frank writes with gusto and humour, though the tone is serious when she realises she may never completely recover. Not only a book about stress and the immune system, Headstrong is an indictment of our performance-driven society.

  • A neurobiologist crashes and burns, not once but twice

  • Deeply personal and thoroughly scientific memoir about the price of success

  • Physical and mental collapse due to overwork is becoming increasingly common

Year of publication
2023

Page count
340

Publisher
Das Mag

Rights
Sebes & Bisseling
Rik Kleuver
kleuver@sebes.nl

Paul Sebes
sebes@kleuver.nl

Sample translation available

A thorough analysis of international scientific literature, written like a gripping whodunnit, in a drily humorous style.

Het Parool

Neurobiologist Brankele Frank finds out what burnout really means for body and mind.

NRC

More Non-Fiction

Angela Maas

The Healthcare Gap

Medicine has traditionally been based on the male body, with women as bycatch, but women are not just smaller men. In scientific research, female patients remain alarmingly underrepresented, and today there is still no equality between men and women as patients, despite growing proof of the differences. And female medical professionals themselves still need further emancipation in their roles.

Lieke Marsman

On Another Planet They Can Save Me

In 2017, poet and novelist Lieke Marsman was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer. After enduring various rounds of chemo, she was told her illness was terminal. Still, she is continuing with treatment – radiotherapy, immunotherapy, operations. Living for years with death has changed Lieke’s worldview, and On Another Planet They Can Save Me is a poetic and philosophical exploration of the need to embrace the unknown.

Sjeng Scheijen

Another Russia

Is Russia so unique that we can’t understand its people? Putin would like us to think so, and it’s why he has to defend against the ‘decadent West’. Meanwhile, our own stubborn myths about the enigmatic ‘Russian Soul’ only confirm his narrative. If we ever hope to see peace in Europe, renowned Russia-expert Sjeng Scheijen argues, we had better look at what we share. After all, one can’t win a war of ideas with bombs alone.

Jan Luiten van Zanden

Lucy’s Daughters

While some see gender inequality as a natural phenomenon, the history of economics reveals a very different story. Jan Luiten van Zanden’s research focuses on the complex interplay between the social status of women and economic development. In this panoramic work, he examines the historical roots of gender inequality throughout Eurasia, and its socio-economic consequences today.

Brankele Frank
Brankele Frank (b. 1987) studied neurobiology in Amsterdam, London and Paris. She has written for Dutch newspapers and magazines including 'NRC' and 'Vrij Nederland', and taught at the University of Amsterdam. She also worked for McKinsey and was a member of the management team at ARTIS Amsterdam Zoo.
Part ofNon-Fiction
Share page