Falling Into the Fire: A Psychiatrist's Encounters with the Mind in Crisis Hardback - 2013 - 1st Edition

Details

• Title Falling Into the Fire: A Psychiatrist's Encounters with the Mind in Crisis
• Author Montross, Christine
• Binding Hardback
• Edition number 1st
• Edition 1
• Pages 239
• Language EN
• Publisher Penguin Press HC, The, New York
• Date 2013-08-01
• ISBN 9781594203930

Pauline W. Chen, M.D., The New York Times:
“Thought-provoking…Dr. Montross, an award-winning poet before attending medical school, is passionate about her work and her patients’ plight…She addresses these issues with intelligence; and by deftly intertwining her patients’ stories with historical facts, current research and ethical quandaries, she presents a moving and nuanced picture of the psychiatric patient and doctor relationship, and a riveting and thought-provoking look at mental health care.”

Los Angeles Times:
“Thoughtful and deeply compassionate…[Falling Into the Fire] is a fluid meditation on the limits of medicine and how Montross learned to care for ‘people nearly all of whom are in profound moments of crisis.’…This is not a doctor puzzling clues together like some real-world Dr. House; this is a doctor struggling to sit with the uncomfortable questions that arise when medicine doesn't have any answers.”

The New Yorker:
“Montross explores the practical, emotional, and philosophical challenges of working with patients whose illnesses of the mind are often intractable and deeply disturbing.”

The Washington Post:
“[Falling Into the Fire] draws a troubling but illuminating picture of what it’s like to be locked into unrelenting emotional and mental chaos…Montross does want to illustrate the ‘messy, unsatisfying, nonconforming human mind,’ but this is also her story—and the story of all those whose mission it is to comprehend and treat these perplexing illnesses…Montross inserts herself, along with her partner and two children, into the book, with powerful effect. Parenting and caring for patients have quite a bit in common, she explains, including love, frustration, ineptitude—and of course fear…Other details of Montross’s full and joyous family life serve to accentuate the humanity she brings to her work.”

Providence Journal:
“Writing with elegance and a sharp-eyed for detail a novelist might envy, Montross brings us examples of minds that, in her words, are ‘standing at the edge,’ if not already singed by the fire…Rare are such gripping accounts of the difficulties of treating mental disorders…I applaud the compassion and empathy she brings to what arguably is health-care’s most difficult specialty…Montross writes first and foremost as a person, as someone with a lively intellect and authentic emotions. She cares deeply about her patients. For these reasons, Falling Into the Fire is a significant book for anyone who has been touched directly or indirectly by passing or permanent disorders of the mind (and is that not pretty much everyone?)… [A] powerful book.”
 
Daily Beast:
"Falling Into the Fire is as good an account of the labyrinth of mental health care as you’re likely to read. [Montross’s] work in critical care psychiatric settings is the source material, and she launches from discussions of clients into larger questions about the nature of psychiatry and of mental health. Montross writes beautifully about the deep-seated illnesses that challenge therapist and psychiatrists."

Kirkus Reviews:
“A sympathetic portrait of seriously ill patients that could guide future practitioners on the art of helping, if not always healing, the sick.”

Publisher’s Weekly:
“…[Montross’s] intriguing analysis is anchored by the humble and empathetic voice of a psychiatrist working in a field wherein 'every diagnosis is an act of faith.'"

Shelf Awareness:
“Montross is pragmatic and compassionate in her attempts to understand the complexities of each individual's neurosis, intertwining research into early medical and psychiatric practices with reflections on her family as she searches for a medical treatment that will be effective—and that her patients will be willing to follow. Empathetic and informative, Falling into the Fire is a fascinating look into the convoluted world of psychiatry and mental illness.”