NO SHELF CONTROL

Title: You Don’t Have To Be Mad To Work Here Review

Author: Dr Benji Waterhouse

Publisher: Jonathan Cape

Publication Date: May, 2024

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 336

My Rating: ★★★★★

Dr Benji Waterhouse opens the door to his psychiatry office and gives us the opportunity to learn more about the NHS mental health services. From his time as a junior doctor, stints at the crisis team and PICU through to a consultant. We get to meet some of his patients, colleagues, family and learn about his own mental health.

The start of this had me rolling with laughter, it was absolutely hilarious! Unfortunately, that smile is quickly off my face as he gets further in to the mental health crisis and the impact it not only has on the patients, but the staff too.

_{“Statistically one in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point, and while mental illness accounts for 28% of the nations overall disease burden, it receives just 13% of nhs funding. In fact, despite increased demand for mental health support, the number of psychiatric beds in England has fallen from 67,000 in 1988 to be 18,000 in 2019”}

Some of the patient’s stories will pull at your heart strings and some will make you chuckle (even though you know you shouldn’t!). I found Paige’s story particularly sad. Unwell, but not unwell enough to have access to the help she clearly needs to get better. It was difficult to read that the stigma of personality disorders doesn’t just lay with the general public, but health professionals too.

_{“In reality people with schizophrenia are more likely to be victims of violence. Alcohol and drug misuse is a far bigger risk factor for violence and homicide, yet curiously people don’t fear parties like they do psychiatric hospitals”}

As someone who was diagnosed as bipolar, after bouncing around in the system for 15 years, it was an incredibly interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for my advanced copy.