p37 The Locked Ward: Memoirs of a Psychiatric Orderly
11 January 2013
As a kid growing up in Scotland, Dennis O’Donnell had an idea of people whose minds had become disordered and the men in white coats who came to take them away. Then, as a student, and later, in middle age, he became one of the men in white coats — a psychiatric orderly. O’Donnell, a man of great patience and goodwill, describes the job beautifully. One man believed he was the King of Egypt. Another spent his time waiting for a visit from his daughter, who never came. Some patients have sexual troubles; others want to hurt themselves. This is a superb study of people whose minds have gone wrong, and the art of caring for them.
