Engrossing, indelible, and brimming with genuine humanity.
The highs and lows of a grueling four-year psychiatry residency.
As Stern notes in this dynamic debut memoir, though he was armed with the empathetic drive to “become an expert in the human condition,” he was unprepared for the difficult work he would face. After graduating from SUNY Syracuse, he matched with the residency program at Harvard Medical School in 2010. The author writes about how he was intimidated after being paired with classmates from more prestigious medical schools, but as the son of a cardiologist, high expectations were established early, which only added to the pressure to outperform the 14 other residency scholars in his class. After several shaky introductory shifts, Stern found his footing in a work environment characterized by elaborate clinical processes, murky treatment ethics, nagging self-doubt, and sheer physical exhaustion. Eventually, the author got worn down by weeks of consecutive overnight shifts handling the “firestorm” of a full patient caseload in the psych ward and rotation schedules in the emergency department. Nonetheless, Stern remained committed, and he was also able to find romantic fulfillment with a fellow resident, Rachel, who later became his wife. As the author vividly captures the urgency, chaos, and eerie fascination involved with the treatment of mental illness, he also candidly shares numerous patient portraits, which provide some of the most moving and disturbing moments in the book. Stern capably handled patients plagued with severe anorexia, manic depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, but he was still blindsided by some of the unique, situational “stuff we never covered in med school.” The combination of patient case studies and medical trainee journal creates an intense reading experience and an eye-opening appreciation for medical professionals charged with psychiatric care. Residents and those contemplating a career in mental health will find much to glean from this spirited memoir of dedication and dogged determination.
Engrossing, indelible, and brimming with genuine humanity.Pub Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-43473-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A provocative and original examination of the flaws in mental health treatment.
Fay's incisive, wide-ranging debut explores her decadeslong immersion in the mental health system.
Beginning when she was a teenager, Fay was diagnosed with six different mental illnesses, sometimes one by one, sometimes in combination, and often based on the skimpiest of evidence. Therapists and physicians concluded that she was suffering from anorexia, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, ADHD, OCD, and bipolar disorder. They prescribed medications accordingly, and Fay dutifully swallowed both the diagnoses and the pills—and then found it nearly impossible to extricate herself from either. The narrative, justifiably soaked with anger but also darkly funny at points, does not follow the course of the usual mental health memoir, in which the subject finally receives and responds to the “correct” analysis of her problems and lives happily-ever-after. Instead, Fay, still troubled, still medicated, stepped out of the loop of therapy and began to refute its basic tenets. The author boldly combines three strands: an account of her trip down the rabbit hole of the mental health system, where she tried valiantly to persuade herself to accept diagnoses that didn’t seem to correspond to her actual life; a dynamic critique of the various incarnations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which serves as a guidebook for many clinicians; and, unexpectedly but beguilingly, analyses of the ways punctuation can reveal and structure thought. While criticism of the DSM is not new, Fay's position as an insider suffering from the results of its application as a method of analysis gives her a unique perspective. Sharply personal and impeccably detailed, the book is bound to raise questions in the minds of readers diagnosed with any number of disorders about the validity of trying to cram individual experience into what Fay contends are essentially imaginary categories.
A provocative and original examination of the flaws in mental health treatment.Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-306868-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
A solid work of investigation that, while treading well-covered ground, offers plenty of surprises.
An account of the last gasps of the Trump administration, completing a trilogy begun with Fear (2018) and Rage (2020).
One of Woodward and fellow Washington Post reporter Costa’s most memorable revelations comes right away: Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, calling his counterpart in Beijing to assure him that even after Jan. 6 and what Milley saw as an unmistakable attempt at a coup d’état, he would keep Trump from picking a war with China. This depiction has earned much attention on the talking-heads news channels, but more significant is its follow-up: Milley did so because he was concerned that Trump “might still be looking for what Milley called a ‘Reichstag moment.’ ” Milley emerges as a stalwart protector of the Constitution who constantly courted Trump’s ire and yet somehow survived without being fired. No less concerned about Trump’s erratic behavior was Paul Ryan, the former Speaker of the House, who studied the psychiatric literature for a big takeaway: “Do not humiliate Trump in public. Humiliating a narcissist risked real danger, a frantic lashing out if he felt threatened or criticized.” Losing the 2020 election was one such humiliation, and Woodward and Costa closely track the trajectory of Trump’s reaction, from depression to howling rage to the stubborn belief that the election was rigged. There are a few other modest revelations in the book, including the fact that Trump loyalist William Barr warned him that the electorate didn’t like him. “They just think you’re a fucking asshole,” Barr told his boss. That was true enough, and the civil war that the authors recount among various offices in the White House and government reveals that Trump’s people were only ever tentatively his. All the same, the authors note, having drawn on scores of “deep background” interviews, Trump still has his base, still intends vengeance by way of a comeback, and still constitutes the peril of their title.
A solid work of investigation that, while treading well-covered ground, offers plenty of surprises.Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-982182-91-5
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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