On the Brink: Stories of harm and healing from a lifetime in psychiatry

‘Perhaps the truth is that severe mental illness is just as frightening, just as stigmatising, just as much a taboo as it has always been . . .’ Over the course of her forty-year career, psychiatrist and psychotherapist Penelope Campling has worked with patients from all walks of life, from survivors of abuse to ICU doctors struggling under the strain of Covid-19. She has seen many positive changes in how we approach mental health – and yet she is increasingly troubled by the state of our health services. Too often those who most need help are being failed by a system that cannot adequately care for them. In On the Brink Campling takes us into the therapy room, offering unique insight into how we treat those in distress. She shows us how the progress made in a more optimistic era of psychiatry is fast being eroded; how our struggling healthcare system often fails those who need our support; and how crucial it is in today’s uncertain world that we do not turn away. Candid, compassionate and, above all, hopeful, On the Brink is a story of troubled minds and how we try to heal them.

About the Author :
Penelope Campling is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. For twenty years, she ran the NHS personality disorder unit in Leicester, and she is the co-author of Intelligent Kindness: Rehabilitating the Welfare State (CUP, 2020). Now retired from the NHS, she continues to lecture and campaign, and works in private practice. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been supporting clinicians on the  frontline in intensive care units. 

Review :
‘Deeply thoughtful and compassionate’ Susie Orbach, author of In Therapy ‘A book with the power to move and inform . . . [Campling] is an expert in “intelligent kindness”.’ Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know 'Fantastic new book from Penny Campling - 5 stars' Dr Kate Lovett, former Dean, Royal College of Psychiatrists [An] insightful, important book . . . an exhibition of what could be possible and an invitation to act to deliver that vision.’ Kathryn Mannix, author of Listen ‘A lucid and much-needed articulation of the frustration shared by so many struggling to keep the NHS afloat’ Iona Heath, BMJ ‘As a GP I wish I could send patients to Penelope Campling; as someone worried about failing mental health services, I wish she were in charge.’ Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being ‘An important book, moving and honest… stands out in its field of psychotherapist memoirs’ Beth Guilding, TLS ‘This book oozes compassion and kindness and made me want to be a more understanding doctor.’ Kate Milton, British Journal of GP Practice  ‘On the Brink is a book brimming with compassion, insight and tentative hope.’ The Observer