Author:Caroline Elton
For anyone trying to understand the impossible strains placed on our medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, this book is indispensable.
_____________________________
'A furious dispatch from the front line of the hospital system.' THE TIMES, Book of the Week
_____________________________
Doctors are the people we turn to in our darkest moments. We trust them with our lives. But what does that stress do to a person?
What does it take to confront death, disease, distress and suffering every day? To work in a healthcare system stretched to breaking point? To make decisions that will change lives – or possibly end them? And how do doctors cope with their own questions and fears, when they are expected to have all the answers?
Caroline Elton is a psychologist who, for two decades, has specialised in helping doctors: the obstetrician whose own fertility treatment failed; the trainee oncologist struggling to face patients with the disease that killed her father; the brilliant neurosurgeon whose career stalled in an environment hostile to women; and many more.
Drawing on extraordinary case studies and decades of work supporting clinicians, Also Human presents a provocative, perceptive and deeply humane examination of the modern medical profession.
_____________________________
'Written with perceptive sympathy for the wounded healer, it is necessary reading for both doctors and patients.' HILARY MANTEL
'Crucial and timely.' ATUL GAWANDE
'Fascinating and troubling. Read it and weep.' SUSIE ORBACH
'Haunting, beautiful and urgent.' JOHANN HARI
'At the heart of this book is the problem of how emotional resilience can be identified in prospective doctors and strengthened in practising doctors. We are fallible human beings, not omniscient gods.' HENRY MARSH, SUNDAY TIMES
All agree there is a crisis in health care, but this book looks behind the headlines and tots up the human cost of a flawed system. Written with perceptive sympathy for the wounded healer, it is necessary reading for both doctors and patients.
—— Hilary MantelWith a compassionate eye for detail and a deep understanding of just how the systems we train and practice in as doctors can fail us as human beings, Caroline Elton offers a crucial and timely reminder that doctors are Also Human.
—— Atul Gawande, author of Being MortalThis furious dispatch from the front line of the hospital system argues we must care for our medics more... a book that may have found its popular moment.
—— Helen Rumbelow , The Times, 'Book of the Week'Caroline Elton is an occupational psychologist who has worked with medics for more than 20 years. She is uniquely qualified to comment... I’d be surprised if anyone who reads it will ever look at doctors in the same light again.
—— Decca Aitkenhead , GuardianAlso Human describes, through a series of case histories... the emotional and psychological problems that doctors can face. The interesting question... is how doctors overcome such feelings and carry on working, despite often having to witness, and sometimes cause, terrible suffering for our patients. At the heart of this book is the problem of how emotional resilience can be identified in prospective doctors and strengthened in practising doctors. We are fallible human beings, not omniscient gods.
—— Henry Marsh , Sunday TimesHer descriptions of the psychological forces underlying the way doctors act … is fascinating, with succinct explorations.
—— Literary ReviewFascinating, troubling, educative. Read Elton and weep and then think, argue and implement what needs doing to support not squander our medics.
—— Susie OrbachHave you ever wondered what your doctor thinks and feels once you walk out the door? Also Human is the uncensored answer - and it’s haunting, beautiful, and urgent for all of us to know.
—— Johann HariAn important, necessary book. Also Human shows that doctors are indeed all so human.
—— Dean Burnett, author of The Idiot BrainDoctors are people, too. They possess the same virtues, faults, fears and desires of the rest of us but it's easy for patients to forget this obvious truth. Caroline Elton's revelatory, sometimes disturbing, book, is a welcome reminder of this. For doctors and patients alike, this book is required reading.
—— Nick Rennison , Daily MailA shocking indictment of a system of training and supervision that ought to have gone out of fashion and use decades ago. Caroline Elton's incisive prose, and her impatience with the way people display prejudice and poor practice in front of her makes for very good, if highly disturbing, reading. I was horrified by this book, but so glad she has written it.
—— Julia NeubergerShocking… a graphic exposé of the exhaustion, depression, and stress among doctors and it has sent shock waves across the health services.
—— Irish ExaminerTimely, passionately argued.
—— British Journal of General PracticeA compelling book from start to finish. Cohen-Hatton uses her own experiences as a firefighter to expose the psychology behind her decisions and emotions. A great read and accessible to all.
—— Phil Butler, University of CardiffA compelling and exciting read. A great insight into decision-making on the front line of firefighting . . . Immersive stories, tension and fantastic lessons to take away. I loved it!
—— Flt Lt (Rtd) Mandy Hickson, former RAF Tornado pilotOne of the UK's most senior firefighters share heart-in-the-mouth stories from her 18 years in the emergency services, taking us to the very heat of battle; from scenes of devastation and crisis, to the quieter moments when these unassuming heroes question both themselves and the decisions they are forced to make. As we all as being extraordinarily courageous, Cohen-Hatton has an impressive professional track record: her award winning research into decision-making in the emergency services has transformed policy at a global level.
—— The BooksellerA fascinating read
—— Dan Walker , BBC BreakfastThis book is incredible!
—— Louise Minchin , BBC BreakfastWOW! I just could not put it down! . . . It will enlighten people about the human aspects of firefighting, the challenges of decision-making under pressure and the way in which university research has helped to understand and improve the way leaders approach critical decisions. It’s certainly made me think about how I can use the principles discussed to help people in a variety of leadership positions.
—— Karen Holford, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff UniversityThis book will change the way you think. Forever.
—— CosmpolitanAs well as being a fire-fighter, she’s a fire-thinker, and that’s what makes this book stand out.
—— Daily MailAn inspiring, vivid account of the dangerous world of firefighting
—— Jane Shilling , Daily MailWang . . . eloquently balances personal narrative and empirical research to offer a powerful series of insights into a woefully misunderstood world.
—— SF WeeklyThis beautifully written work will expand your thinking about severe mental illness and mental illness in general
—— Rewire.NewsThe Collected Schizophrenias is illumination and important--not only because it educates and challenges--but because it forces us to consider how much we still have to work to undo historical and systematic damage, to challenge our own broken, misguided partiality towards what it means to be healthy and sane
—— The Arkansas International[The Collected Schizophrenias] organizes the confusion, terror and complexity of [Wang's] experience into an imperfectly cohesive, profoundly illuminating whole.
—— Shelf AwarenessPenetrating and revelatory.
—— Publisher's WeeklyThis mesmerizing collection of essays has achieved the rarest of rarities--a meaningful and expansive language for a subject that has been long bound by both deep revulsion and intense fascination
—— Jenny ZhangA brilliant guide to the complexities of thinking about illness, and mental illness, in particular. It will bring hope to others searching to understand their own diagnoses
—— Meghan O'RourkeA masterful braiding of the achingly personal and the incisively researched. . . . This book is a vital, illuminating window onto the world we all already live in, but find all too easy to ignore
—— Alexandra KleemanYou won't find any pity-baiting, sensationalism, or false positivity here; Wang is so candidly aware that I'd trust her over my own diary
—— Tony TulathimutteEsmé Weijun Wang offers us an all-access pass to her beautiful, unquiet mind. . . Rarely has a book about living with mental illness felt so immediate, raw, and powerful
—— Dani ShapiroThe Collected Schizophrenias is at once generous and brilliantly nuanced, rigorous and bold. It had me rethinking what it is to be well or ill.
—— R.O. KwonEsmé Weijun Wang sends out revelatory dispatches from an under-mapped land, shot like arrows in all directions from a taut bow of a mind. . . . Her work changes the way we think about illness - which is to say that it changes us
—— Whiting Award Selection Committee