An extraordinary account of a nurse’s life behind the locked doors of a secure psychiatric ward.
Dennis O’Donnell started work as an orderly in the Intensive Psychiatric Care Unit of a large hospital in Scotland in 2000. In his daily life he encountered fear, violence and despair but also a considerable amount of care and compassion. Recounting the stories of the patients he worked with, and those of his colleagues on the ward, he examines major mental health conditions, methods of treatment – medication, how religion, sex, wealth, health and drugs can bear influence on mental health, the prevailing attitudes to psychiatric illness, the authorities, the professionals & society.
What emerges is a document of humanity and humour, a remarkable memoir that sheds light on a world that still remains largely unknown.
‘This is a superb study of people whose minds have gone wrong, and the art of caring for them’ Evening Standard
- ISBN10 1529113849
- ISBN13 9781529113846
- Publish Date 2 January 2079 (first published 5 January 2012)
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Vintage
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 352
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9781529113846