What a great book! As well as giving you a devastating look into the impossibly pressured world of NHS psychiatry, it’s personal and humorous.
Dr Benji Waterhouse writes this via case studies - the one that sticks in my mind is the very posh banker with a noose in his bathroom - and via his account of his own therapy, dysfunctional family and new relationship with Esther.
What’s saddest is the way his supervisor quickly teaches him to shut down his compassionate questioning in order to move the patients through the system quickly. And the suicide bridge where one side is in one NHS area and the other in another, leading psychiatrists to pass the buck wherever possible.
Highly recommended: hilarious, realistic and sad by equal measure.

This book has gone through some masterful editing work because the way is constructed not only makes it flow smoothly but is also very gripling. The story of Benji Waterhouse feels very raw, following the struggles and disillusions of working in NHS's psychiatry but also interweaving his own experiences of familial dysfunctions and being on the receiving end of psychotherapy.

It was at times shocking insight to the ins and outs of inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment and how the system of healthcare makes it difficult to provide people with the care they often need. "You Don't Have to Be Mad to Work Here" also showcases coping mechanisms if psychiatric wards staff and the author makes sure there's enough context given to his mental health-related musings.

Moderately interesting read but too high level to be particularly insightful. Enjoyed the flashbacks to the author’s personal life.

If you like Adam Kay books, you’ll like this book.

Similarly to the author parts of this book was fascinating, parts of this book made me depressed. I definitely felt feelings the whole way through.

CW for mentions of the pandemic.

The experiences of Benji Waterhouse in his work as a junior NHS psychiatrist, both in hospitals and out in the community