Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER

This is an exceptional book. I have worked in psych for 18 years as a nurse and I can understand all the lingo and examples that Dr. Holland is describing. She shares her background on what led her to be a psychiatrist, the issues that young doctors go through in medical school and residence. And being a psychiatrist in a large psych department. It sounds like a fascinating place to work. The hospitals I worked in were state psych and a small hundred bed acute hospital. My background helps me to really enjoy this book. If I was not a nurse I don't think that I would be able to get the most out of it. All the negative comments that I have read about the book point to that direction. Unless you work in the field you will not understand the story she is sharing with the public. And I appreciate her writing this book. The book should be reguired reading for all healthcare workers, it is that good. I also bought the audiobook to get a more enhanced read of her book. Glad that I bought it.

THIS. IS. AN. AUTOBIOGRAPHY. There are bound to be narcissistic and/or self-absorbed moments in ANY autobiography. Autobiographies ARE about the author of the book. They ARE about the AUTHOR'S experiences. Are there parts of this book that are better left unwritten? Sure... but having said that, I think that there are a LOT of autobiographies that suffer from this particular problem (having things in it that are better left out of the book). *I* LOVED this book. This book was an unflinchingly honest look at the life of a psychiatrist at one of the nation's busiest psychiatric units. I LIKED the personal narratives about her life, inside and outside of Bellevue. I found the story thread about her friend, Lucy, particularly poignant. I think we all tend to shy away from people who are terminally ill, even if they are our friends, simply because interacting with the terminally ill reminds us about our OWN mortality. Does it stink that she didn't go see Lucy more often? Absolutely. Should Dr. Holland be crucified for that? I, personally, don't think so. I also found her interaction throughout the book with the hospital police ("HP") to be, at times, humorous and, again, at times, witty as all get out. Dr. Holland doesn't seem to let much slip by her without making some sort of wisecrack, which, as a result, keeps this book light-hearted and easier to read, in the sense that you're not drawn into a world of emotional exhaustion with hundreds of gut-wrenching stories about seemingly hopeless cases. There were other parts of the book that made me stop and think... in particular her (admittedly sparse) commentary on our society's way(s) of dealing with the mentally ill. I particularly found this prose in the book enlightening: "We avoid dealing with psychiatric patients because we hate to see things in that we don't want to see in ourselves: weakness, need, despair, aggression. Our experiences with the psychiatrically ill often fill us with dread; they confront us with our own terror of reaching a catastrophically altered state from which there is no return. We should be compassionate to those who stumble out of our lockstep. Yet in our culture, the mentally ill are demonized and shunned. They are ostracized and marginalized as a by-product of our primal fear of going crazy ourselves." Holland, Julie (2009-10-05). Weekends at Bellevue (p. 212). Bantam. Kindle Edition. I think a LOT of people misunderstand PSYCHIATRY in today's day and age. PSYCHIATRY *isn't* about "couch" or "talk" therapy in this day and age. "Couch" or "talk" therapy, in MY opinion, is BEST left to PSYCHOLOGISTS in this day and age, and NOT because psychiatrists are not qualified to engage in "couch" or "talk" therapy, but because psychiatrists are MUCH better qualified and/or trained to deal with the MEDICAL aspects of the mind... finding and prescribing the right medication for the schizophrenic or bipolar person that will help alleviate their symptoms so that they can ACTUALLY FUNCTION in today's world, and then following up with that particular person to ensure that the medications prescribed ARE helping the affected person. The ONLY problem *I* had with this engaging book was that the ending seemed to have come out of nowhere. Yes, there WERE subtle hints and vague inferences made in the second half of the book that alluded to Dr. Holland's slow descent into burnout, but at the end, I was left LITERALLY wondering, "Wait... what just happened, and why???", which is why I "only" gave this book four stars. I felt Dr. Holland could have and should have explored or explained her burnout better than she did in the prose. I honestly felt as if her publishers said to her, "We're allotting you 'x' many pages to write this book.", and that the 'y' factor (no pun intended) came too close to the 'z' point of the book. I was left wanting more of an IN-DEPTH explanation as to WHY Dr. Holland chose to leave Bellevue behind. That said, that is really my ONLY criticism of this insightful and otherwise excellent book.

Weekends at Bellevue is a real, no-holds barred look into the Psych ER of Bellevue. It reads like a documentary without the medical jargon and redundant pop psychology. The writer, Julie Holland a punk-rocker turned wife and mother, tells it like is in the real world as a psychiatrist in the Psych ER. The chapters transition beautifully, each one more captivating than the last;you can't help but keep reading. The many detailed accounts of patients are insightful, graphic, realistic and will grab your attention until the very end. Her own personal struggles as a daughter, mother, friend and psychiatrist shadow her nine years at Bellevue. Holland brings a sense of humor to the fast-paced, highly stressful career which some readers will view as cold hearted, harsh or in bad taste - in reality, she is simply human. She proves that not all psychiatrists walk a straight line; she is spunky, she has flaws - flaws that she identifies and struggles with as many of us do. It is evident that after nearly a decade at Bellevue hospital, Holland has desensitized herself to the environment of Bellevue. She maintains strong boundaries between her career and work life, and at times she can come off as emotionless. However, it is her humor and will to separate her emotions that allow her to do her job well. Much like Bellevue Psych ER, this book never has a dull moment. For psychology students, such as myself, this book gives an insightful look into the field of psychiatry that cannot be obtained by sitting in a classroom. Julie Holland's accounts for the nine years on the night shift at the psych ER have influenced not only my perspective on the field of psychiatry itself, but how I view patients as well.

Psychiatry does badly in the popular media and few hospital dramas tackle the real issues. This is an excellent account of life at the coal face, Bellevue Hospital in New York where staff nightly have to deal with the wholesale failures of the healthcare system. Julie Holland tells the stories of some of her patients and of her life in the chaotic world of the psyche ER. The subject matter is awful, a catalogue of shattered lives, but she manages a writing style that keeps ones interest and wish to move on to the next case. In reality, that's her life in this hospital. It is difficult not to finish up as a process worker as so many doctors do in so many specialties. This is an interesting read but some will not like it. As a doctor myself, I felt she revealed the blacker side of healthcare and made uncomfortable those of us who work in more comfortable areas with 'nicer' patients. Sadly the system is so bad that it profoundly affects those who are trying their best to make it work and I can understand why she had to leave in the end.

I read this entire book in her voice! A few times it’s hard to follow, but makes sense at the end. Really enjoyed this quick read!

A great read

Great and mind blowing stories just wish there was a little more detail in them.

Some books you just can't put down while others find themselves set down quickly. I'm afraid Julie Holland's book is the later. It is not that her writing style is poor or that the subject material is not interesting, She writes well and the stories of the people she encounters are always interesting if not painful. it is simply the very nature of this book makes it difficult to read for any length at a time. The chapters are very short and each one is a separate event so there is no binding narrative throughout the book. As a consequence you never feel compelled to read the next chapter. I ended up reading it in short bursts but never in a continual sitting. In the end it is not the author nor the story that makes you set the book down rather the way in which it was crafted.