Raj Persaud

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Raj Persaud : biography

13 May 1963 –

Rajendra Persaud ( ), also known as Raj Persaud (Hindi: राज परसौद), born 13 May 1963, in Reading, Berkshire is an English consultant psychiatrist, broadcaster and author of popular books about psychiatry.

Raj Persaud is the son of Trinidadian mother Dr. Lakshmi Persaud, a novelist, of Indian origin and Guyanese father Professor Bishnodat Persaud. He is well known for raising public awareness of psychiatric and mental health issues in the general media. He has published five popular books and has received numerous awards.

On 16 June 2008 Persaud admitted to inadequately acknowledging articles mentioned in his book From The Edge Of The Couch, but denied deliberate plagiarism when he faced the General Medical Council’s "fitness to practise panel". Passages of Professor Richard Bentall’s work had been copied without quotation marks or other adequate reference on the corresponding pages of one of Persaud’s popular books, although Persaud had obtained the author’s permission to include the material. On 19 June 2008 he was found guilty of dishonesty and bringing the profession into disrepute by the GMC, but it was accepted that there was no financial incentive at work. On the following day it was announced by the GMC that his fitness to practise was impaired and he was suspended from practising for three months.BBC Radio 4 6pm news bulletin

He lives in Central London and is married to an eye surgeon who works at Moorfields Eye Hospital. They have a son and daughter.

Notes

Awards

  • Fellow of University College London, 2000
  • Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2004
  • Tony Thistlethwaite Award Commendation for Excellence (Medical Journalists’ Association), 2005
  • Morris Markow Prize Royal College of Psychiatrists 2005

Media career

Persaud regularly appeared on radio and TV programmes, as either interviewee or presenter and was resident psychiatrist on the well-known daytime television programme This Morning. In addition to writing regularly for The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, Persaud also had columns in the Times Educational Supplement, Cosmopolitan and Canary Wharf CityLife magazine. He is a former presenter of the BBC Radio 4 psychology and psychiatry programme All in the Mind. He was a presenter for for BBC World Service.

Richard and Judy Anne & Nick Doctor, Doctor

He has written several books, including his guide to romance, Simply Irresistible: The Psychology of Seduction – How to Catch and Keep your Perfect Partner. In 2007, he was the consulting editor of a book produced by The Royal College of Psychiatrists called The Mind: A User’s Guide.

Persaud’s media work has earned him a mixed reception. Francis Wheen, then a Guardian columnist, claimed he is "paid a lot of money for stating the obvious". In contrast, the comedian, GP and columnist Dr Phil Hammond applauded Persaud for his populist appeal. Hammond stated Persaud is a "good media communicator" for the psychiatric industry, albeit lacking the sophistication of the late Anthony Clare.

Persaud has worked extensively in the NGO sector. He is a patron of OCD-UK, a British charity for people affected by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). He also works with ActionAid and recently visited Bangladesh with the charity. He visits other developing nations to promote a psycho-pharmacological approach to mental health.

Academic career

Persaud was educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School (an independent school in Elstree, just north of London) and at University College London, where he read for his degrees in medicine and psychology. His first year at UCL was marred by failure after he was forced to re-sit the examinations in anatomy, which he attributed later to availing himself too freely of the other educational opportunities there. He told the British Medical Journal that this left him "traumatised" and he compensated by virtually taking up residence in the college library, eventually achieving at least three degrees, four diplomas and a membership examination.