Review of "Fragile Minds"

"The book describes a bleak picture of burnt-out, uncaring, and sometimes overtly punitive staff who spend their time avoiding, ignoring, and denigrating their patients, forcibly restraining them, and bullying or coercing them into taking medication. In the inpatient ward, the staff huddle together in their glass 'beehive' (office) with desperate and forlorn patients milling around outside - highly reminiscent of Foucault's panopticon."

"In the community service, they stab patients with depot injections and praise the effects of highly sedating medication regimes. The only sympathetic character admits to having to drink to get through the week. Fragile Minds undoubtedly focuses on the negative. In my experience, the majority of people who work in mental health are genuinely trying to help people and make their patients' lives better, but the unsettling thing is that much of it still rings true."

Training experiences reveal burnt-out, uncaring, and sometimes punitive staff who avoid, ignore, denigrate patients, forcibly restrain them, and coerce medication. In inpatient wards staff huddle in a glass 'beehive' office while desperate, forlorn patients mill outside, evoking Foucault's panopticon. Community services administer depot injections and endorse highly sedating medication regimes; sympathetic staff sometimes rely on alcohol to endure. Most mental health workers aim to help, but heavy paperwork, time pressures, and emotional exhaustion reduce patient contact and compassion. A dominant medical model prioritises medication, imposes diagnostic labels, and dehumanises people by reducing them to diagnoses rather than individuals.

Read at Psychology Today