The stories of six patients and their doctors at a psychiatric hospital are chronicled in this book. The authors include new research on mental illness and address the impact of the health care crisis on psychiatric care in America.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Berger (We Heard the Angels of Madness, LJ 4/1/91) and psychiatrist Vuckovic describe life at one unit of McLean Hospital, a psychiatric facility near Boston, during a typical two-week period. Since only the sickest patients are given inpatient treatment, crisis management is the style in mental hospitals today. Doctors must achieve quick results through psychopharmacology, stabilizing patients enough to allow them to benefit from outpatient care. Although each chapter focuses on an individual patient, allowing the reader some familiarity, the stories are told from the psychiatrist's and his staff's points of view, relating the frustrations and successes they meet each day. Separate chapters describe the study of mental illness and the treatment that is carried on within the research arm of the hospital. Recommended for both lay readers and professionals.
--Marguerite Mroz, Baltimore Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Marguerite Mroz, Baltimore Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
McLean Hospital is a 180-year-old private institution in Belmont, Massachusetts, and a teaching hospital for Harvard. Medical writer Berger became interested in it through chronicling the experiences of a manic-depressive nephew. With McLean psychopharmacologist Vuckovic, she shows that many of the hospital's problems and activities exemplify national trends. The powers and regulations of both government agencies and insurance companies weigh heavily on it. McLean's patient census has declined by a third during the past five years, and the average length of a patient's stay has fallen from 81 to 13 days. By alternating between group discussions and individual case histories in the text, Berger and Vuckovic also explain different psychiatric illnesses and approaches to them and the relationships among psychiatrists, nurses, and patients, and they take a close look at McLean's research activities, particularly Francine Benes' work with GABA, a neurotransmitter that slows down electrical impulses passing from one nerve ending to another. William Beatty
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If your into mental health,
By Mickey Mouse "Mel" (Illinois) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Under Observation: Life Inside a Psychiatric Hospital (Hardcover)
This is a book that I find hard to put down. Although the cases are tweeked for privacy reasons, it is different from the mental health setting in today's society. This book is not for clinical purposes, but to get an understanding of mental health at McLean psychiatric hospital.
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