I really loved You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here by Benji Waterhouse. Written by Benji about his role as a psychiatrist it was sensitive with some light touches of humour throughout. A moving read that I would recommend.

Thank you so much for allowing me an early copy of this, please give my personal thanks to the author as well as yourselves at the publishing company. As a nurse who has worked in emergency care, palliative care, and now intensive care, the book resonated well with me. I would love a physical, hard copy of this to show my followers (4800+) on my blog and give recommendations as well as the E-Book. Please feel free to check out my blog on Instagram where I will be discussing this book. My Instagram handle is The_Secret_bookreview. If you wish to contact me via email, my email is thesecretbookreview@gmail.com. If I have not already, all reviews will be posted on my blog, Goodreads, Amazon and Waterstones. Thank you.

I enjoy these sorts of books and have read quite a number over the years. Benjamin Waterhouse is a Psychiatrist and shares his journey as a newly qualified doctor, on the way to becoming a Consultant within the NHS.

As is often the case with those who work in the medical profession, there’s some dark humour in the book. Different cases are discussed throughout, as well as Benjamin’s personal journey with therapy and facing the realities of his childhood and resulting feelings.

I found the book easy to read and any technical terms are explained without being patronising. Benjamin does a good job of showing the reality of the NHS, underfunding, a lack of staff, and a lack of beds, and the difficult decisions that doctors have to make. He also mentions Covid and the impact that had, but doesn’t go on about it too much. In some similar books I’ve read, the author talks too much about their own life, but I feel Benjamin gets the balance right.

If you’re interested in medical memoir books, or Psychiatry, I would recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

Loved this book. It balanced humour with the harsh realities of life as a psychiatrist in the NHS. I found it highly moving how he navigated a broken system while caring for his patients. What an insight into mental healthcare and a look at the lives of those on the front line.

This is Dr Benji Waterhouse’s personal memoir about his training as a doctor, his choice to specialise in psychiatry, and his own personal therapy journey.

Sometimes heart-breakingly sad and sometimes hilariously funny, the book maintains throughout a self-evidently true and open authenticity that is immediately recognisable to anyone who has experienced NHS mental health services from either side of the ‘counter’, or even just as an interested onlooker.

As with many NHS memoirs I have read over the years, the clearest message that readers are left with is that caring, highly-dedicated health professionals are being bowed down and burnt out by issues such as systemic underfunding and lack of resources, skeletal staffing levels and forced focus on time-money targets over results for the individual patients in their care.

The author is open about the highs and lows of both his job and his personal life, and entertains us with the disarming, and often dark, humour that he employs to survive professional and personal challenges, making his book eminently fascinating and enjoyably readable. But it can also be incredibly depressing for anyone who reads between the lines and beneath the one-liners to the pain and helplessness of a person who just desperately wants to help others.

So, both an easy (well-written and funny) read and a difficult read (truthful; sad and bleak at times). I was left with an inexpressible gratitude towards the men and women who put their own physical and mental health on the line daily to try to improve those of the rest of us. Heartfelt thanks to all of you for hanging on in there, even when it feels like ‘you must be mad’ to do so. ❤

I really loved this book and read it in one sitting. Having worked for the NHS in mental health myself, I could relate to a lot of what Benji wrote about, and indeed, the gallows humour really made me laugh. Though of course, the completely under resourced NHS mental health service is nothing to laugh about. With only 13% of NHS budgets allocated to mental health services, it's little wonder that people are being failed. Having also experienced mental ill health myself, I've had first hand experience of being told I'm not unwell enough for one type of service, but too unwell for another.

Aside from the depressing reality of working in over stretched services, Benji writes with compassion about the diversity of patients he has met and supported. Benji's writing is compelling and he writes about his own struggles, and of those his family has experienced. This makes this book so much more than a glimpse into psychiatry. It makes it relatable with a warmth and vulnerability that I found quite beautiful to read.

A highly engaging and insightful account of the work of a psychiatry junior doctor. The case studies are interspaced with accounts of the author’s family history, with a lot of self reflection on his decision to choose psychiatry as a specialism. Written with warmth and understanding, this feels compelling and authentic.

This was so cleverly written. Thoroughly enjoyed the dark humour throughout, alongside finding it a fascinating and informative read.

This was a really thought provoking book detailing the plight of mental health. It was serious in nature but there was humour within, which anyone who works for the NHS knows is an important tool to compartmentalise the horrific things that can be seen and dealt with. I thought he told his own story of mental health really well and I felt for all his patients. I sometimes despaired at the lack of help from the overall system, and understood his frustrations at how many people are failed due to budget constraints and under staffing. Sad but with lighter elements such as the knowledge that he did help some people over his time in the service.

I appreciate the honesty of the author in including himself and his family as characters in this book, and did find parts of it humourous. I did however find it off-putting that in many instances the humour was directed at the patients described in the book, who are in some cases severely mentally ill, and it just felt a bit off to be laughing at them. This book reminded me a lot of "This is Going to Hurt" which is very similar in that it is the darkly comedic tale of a trainee in the NHS though in obstetrics rather than psychiatry. Though I have to say the dark comedy in that book didn't give me the same cringey feeling that I was being asked to laugh at people's illness. I also found some of the writing style a bit challenging particularly the absolute lack of punctuation after use of a given name, which I imagine was meant to give the effect of someone speaking in a direct way but when used every single time a given name is used which is often multiple times per page it is a bit burdensome. Perhaps that is something that should have been caught in the editing. As a doctor who has worked in my share of dysfunctional public hospitals I do appreciate the difficulties and frustrations of it, and I know that in medicine we often use dark humour to cope, but this book was just challenging for me to really enjoy.

Waterhouse's memoir is insightful, humorous and raw.

He begins with his descent into psychiatry, and the whirlwind that was his first few months on the job. Recounting how his bright eyes and bushy tail gradually dimmed over time, weighed down by underfunding, lack of staff and a system that simply doesn't work. He discusses how his profession left him questioning more things - about his own mental health and medication. He retells depressing and sometimes hopeless stories with an air of humour, something that I appreciated as a reader.

More importantly, he documents his own mental health and the decline that he felt over the years; the impact that his parent's relationship has had on his adult life and romantic relationships. He is open about his journey with therapy in a way that so many aren't.

This book is by no means light reading, however it is incredibly important reading. It is commendably to look yourself in the mirror and write such an honest account, and one that I'm sure will provide laughs to people who need it and show they are not alone.

An interesting book, detailing the struggles of working in psychiatry and the impact on psychiatry in mental health patients.

This book is perfect - but I did really feel at times that I was getting that impression as a regular NHS-er and mental health-er. I have so many people in my circle who are "not sick enough" for the NHS and some of Benji's takes were SOUL CRUSHING.

This felt like a mental health version of This Is Going to Hurt - would recommend for anyone who read that and loved it, too.

Dr Benji Waterhouse is a psychiatrist & this book follows some of his career from the start of his career as a junior doctor. Although it might be said that Benji searches for the humour in situation that are far from funny for the sufferer, I must admit to enjoying his account as well as making me think how hard it is for those with mental health issues & those treating them can be.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this amusing, though thought provoking book.

A fascinating insight by Benji Waterhouse. I work in the mental health sector myself, but in the private sector. This was a great insight into the working regime within the NHS and the pressures that they face. It is also very open and honest. I would definitely recommend this read.

Absolutely loved this, an eye-opening look into the world of NHS psychiatrists. This book strikes the perfect balance between thought provoking and funny and kept me hooked until the end. Thank you for this arc.

4.5/5

I will start by confessing the combination of cover and title of this book was the first aspect that caught my attention… Then I saw it was a memoir of a psychiatrist and not much more was needed to convince me.

The author shares (sometimes with humor, sometimes with thoughtfulness) his life and experiences working in mental health in a big city like London (England) for a health public service. The stories are within stories, through patient cases linked to the daily life as a psychiatrist. I found this format quite engaging, and even as a person without medical background, it was very easy to connect with both the patient’s and the author’s events. Overall, I really enjoyed deep diving into all of them.

The ebook was gifted through Netgalley, and I decided to acquire the audiobook and alternate between reading and listening. It definitely enhanced the experience.

Audiobook: 4/5
Overall book: 4.5/5

Thank you to the author and Penguin Vintage for an advanced copy of the ebook via Netgalley.

An honest, considered, caring and hilarious view of live through the eyes of an NHS psychiatry doctor. Mixed in with patient anecdotes, journeys and risks are scathing reviews of the state of the national health service sprinkled with nuggets of hope. The author is candid about his own life inc childhood and I truly felt like I was on this journey with him. A true 5 star review.

You don’t have to be mad to work here
Benji Waterhouse
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Absolutely filled with dark humour and a funny informative insight into psychiatry.

This is the view of Benji’s experience from being a junior doctor in this field within the NHS. I really loved the style of writing, it was very engaging.

Benji finds all of the red tape and gives insight because I don’t think it matters how much these individuals care the system is ultimately failing both those desperate to make a difference those who need the help and support.

This book is absolutely bound to be compared to Dr Adam Kay’s book - This is going to hurt - I can see why because the authors are very funny with their delivery of their encounters.

Mental illness absolutely sucks and this book shared the complexity in ways in which the reader can understand without stigmatising mental illness and despite being laugh out loud funny in places it was never at the detriment of the patients.

Thank you to @benjiwaterhouse and @netgalley for my ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book
I found it really interesting, humourous but still sympathetic to the patients etc
I would definitely recommend