The Devil You Know

Carl Jung once said that “thinking is hard which is why we judge instead”. This book, ‘the Devil you know: stories of human cruelty and compassion’, will help you think more about people who have done horrific things and hopefully, not go straight to judging. In this remarkable and humane book, Dr Adshead is a psychiatrist who specialises in psychotherapy, gives 12 case studies of people that she has tried to help and support in Broadmoor and other settings of people who have done something wrong and how she has helped them to confront a tragedy and hopefully move on.- When we plant a seed no matter how special it might be if it's not put in the right soil, receives the right amount of sunshine and water, the best nutrients, it isn’t going to grow to be a beautiful orchid or whatever flower the seed would become. Instead, it will grow up broken rather than beautiful. The author believes that a lot of early trauma and family disruption can lead to great harm as an adult.- Our brains are often layered and sometimes we might feel numb, other times depressed, joyful and angry. Trying to be in a way that these different layers evolve in the thought processes of our mind can be difficult.- One of the things that is interesting about psychotherapy is it's always looking at the reason for the cause has been something to do with the past and particularly childhood and children trauma and whilst I believe that much of this may well be the case I also work with a lot of young people who do erratic and irrational things, not because something terrible happened to them when young but because of how brain structure occurred, for example those with autism which isn't due to a cause in your past but some part of your brain chemistry doesn't quite work like others or processes the world in a very different way. It's really important when looking at causes and I do believe that early childhood trauma can impact on people but isn’t the only route to why people might develop into different selves.- Most people who suffer mental health are often harmless to society and are at greater risk of harm from others than the rest of society. The author is so compassionate and full of wisdom in how she helps these people.- There is a fascinating story about Lydia who is a stalker who eventually managed to persuade everybody that she is quite reasonable and rational but then in one of the discussions with the psychiatrist, it turns out that she is so far from reality and still so intent on causing harm to the person she was stalking, that I thought about it for days.- In another case where a young girl is thought to be causing harm to her baby, that's an interesting observation that many of these people will often say ‘I just thought something was wrong’ and will then go to lengths for others to find that something is wrong when often nothing is wrong. That feeling then overwhelms and takes over them and all their rationality (Munchhausen syndrome by proxy). Note: Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a mental health problem in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care, such as a child, an elderly adult, or a person who has a disability.- The author relates many of the stories as survivors of disaster movies where the perpetrators are the disaster. It's an interesting analogy to describe how these people have become damaged, many of them through the early trauma to become the person that they eventually became and the authors attempt to reconcile and understand with compassion and care.- The story about Sam is interesting to know how many of his difficulties relate to moments of clarity and understanding and then despair as a person with schizophrenia. On occasions having a psychotic break where he trashed and destroyed his sister's bedroom looking for something that he assumes stolen and then being mortified of what he has done - and yet not aware of his actions at the time, only afterwards.- If someone has cerebral palsy (a disorder of the brain that manifests itself in reducing movements of the body that can be spastic or athotoid and that means for some they can’t walk or talk) we understand the brain can impact on movement, its sad that we can’t see that the brain could also effect behaviour and personality in similar ways and we need compassion and understanding. Those with mental health issues can have problems that manifest in many different levels of intensity and in how they manage these difficulties.- It's interesting to note that there is not much in the way of long-term care in a hostel for people with mental health problems nowadays, in fact the average length of stay in a secure unit is three weeks.- The author also notes that though there is care for patients, there exists little in the way of care for their carers and family members who can often be in as much fear and concern as their child or partner who has a mental health problem. They deserve care also.- And perhaps the one thing the author is trying to give these individuals is the opportunity to have ‘hope’, the strongest of emotions in a world of pain and something that the author is always driving to give these patients to tell their dark stories.

I was gripped by this book. Extremely readable, not full of ‘jargon’, informative and mind boggling at times. I am left full of admiration for Gwen adshead and Eileen Horne,Everyone who works with the human mind should read it. Excellent,

I found the author easy to connect to with bundles of empathy. Can’t really think of a downside at the moment, apart from the fact I didn’t really agree with all her assumptions. Guess that’s healthy though. A gem of a read.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, such an interesting perspective

Fantastic brilliantly written book that takes you to the side of humanity that we all need to visit. Inspirational on many a level.Thank you for taking us behind the scenes and showing us what we all need and need to see and hear.

Good value

We are all too ready to accept the tabloid view that murderers, sex offenders and the violent are all evil - often born so. Indeed this is a much more comforting premise than the reality starkly painted here that such offenders are actually little different to us and the product of the same rational society we purport to be a part of.What this collection of fascinating case studies provide is a different narrative about how but for the inoculating social factors of secure early attachments, a life free from trauma and adverse experience - we all possess the potential in the wrong circumstances to act in an in humane way.A compassionate work, the author succeeds in the difficult task of making the reader feel some empathy with the array of offending characters.The power of group therapy to assist in the rehabilitation of some is uplifting and an important message to populist politicians who like to be seen to be hard on criminals by incarcerating ever larger numbers of the mentally ill, depressed, abused and disadvantaged.Another key call of this important work is to treat mental health on a par with physical health. Only then will we be able to reduce ‘evil’ in society.

Absolutely superb journey through some of the significant forensic cases that Dr Gwen Adshead has handled in her distinguished career. No matter the offence committed by any of her clients she shows us how to be human, how to be empathetic in the most challenging of circumstances, and how to view perpetrators as victims too. The book is at times horrifying, but always moving. She shows us how to question ourselves, our assumptions and what we can learn from the misfortune of others. Essential reading.

This book was fascinating and very informative. The authors were able to tell difficult stories but in a very humane way. I would love to read more from both authors!

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Despite the subject matter, I found it compelling and surprisingly enjoyable, and finished it in about three sessions. The word that springs to mind is 'human' - in a number of ways. Dr. Adshead's own honesty and candid admissions of occasional mistakes and misjudgments, especially early in her career; the invariably complex backgrounds and family histories of the patients themselves, but also their obvious humanity - even though they have committed crimes for which they are punished, you feel that they are not the evil monsters that the media would have you believe.The book also provides an interesting description of psychiatric practice, the almost infinite complexity of the human mind, and perhaps as a result, how mental health is the poor relation to physical health, receiving far less research and investment.

I found the cases interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the detailed description of therapy sessions with patients. Dr. Adshead is a skilled and compassionate therapist, and I learned that it is valuable for the therapist to pay attention to her gut response to the patient. Most importantly, I developed compassion for the patients, despite their serious offenses, and I think is the signal accomplishment of the book. Some of the material does get a bit dry at times, as the authors go into detail about the UK mental health system, but for me this was a minor shortcoming of an otherwise excellent work.

The book is well written: the prose flows smoothly, so that it is an easy read. The individual stories are interesting, and each one contains a fresh revelation. Given the complexity of its composition, as explained in the introduction, I thought that quite an achievement. Dr. Adshead comes across as compassionate, not only in her treatment of individuals, but in her advocacy for better mental health systems. I hope many people read this book.

A strangely beautiful collection of stories about human fragility in the face of "intolerable" emotions. Some parts may be hard to read, some of the stories are hard to "unsee." But the effect of this well-written set of therapeutic narratives is enlarging the reader's heart in new ways. In a world that is all too often frightening or sad, Gwen Adshead's book offers a new way of looking at people and their suffering. It's not just about those labelled as psychotic. It's about us, too. As Adshead mirrors back to her clients their own humanity and patiently helps them take responsibility for their lives and acts, she also opens another door -- to our own possibilities and capacity for compassion.