Fragile Minds - Stories from an NHS mental health ward

There is a narrative we''ve become comfortable with: Mental health services are underfunded and understaffed. But that is only half the story. The other half is messy and confronting; uncomfortable enough to make us look sharply away. It is the story of the staff who believed they could make a difference, but were worn down by morally ambiguous tasks, impossible workloads and a systemic resistance to change. It is the story of the patients who are failed by hastily made diagnoses, overreliance on medication, coercion, stigma and inconsistency of care, and of the inspiring individuals struggling for justice and revolution. Beautifully wrought and staggeringly urgent , Fragile Minds documents Bella Jackson''s time as a trainee mental health nurse, and the devastation and hope she encountered in winding corridors and behind locked doors. With compassion and care Bella introduces us to a vivid cast of staff and patients, prompting us to look closer, ask questions and demand more for them.

About the author

Bella Jackson has worked in mental health since 2010. She is a registered Mental Health Nurse and Integrative Psychotherapeutic Counsellor. Her previous roles were as a Key Worker for Mind and Kids Company; a Nurse Consultant for Save the Children; a Family Support Worker in London prisons and with detainees seeking asylum; an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA); and as a Mental Health and Neurodiversity Advisor at the University of Oxford.

Bella currently practices as a private therapist, a Specialist Mental Health Mentor, and as a mental health advisor and practitioner in the theatre industry.

Product details

• Authors: Bella Jackson
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 03.07.2025
• EAN: 9781529939774
• ISBN: 978-1-5299-3977-4
• No. of pages: 304
• Dimensions: 145 mm x 224 mm x 27 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Biographies, autobiographies; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women, MEDICAL / Mental Health, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Disease & Health Issues, Memoirs, MEDICAL / Nursing / Psychiatric & Mental Health, Illness & addiction: social aspects, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Mental health services, True stories of heroism, endurance & survival, Psychiatric Nursing, Health, illness and addiction: social aspects, True stories of survival of abuse and injustice, Psychiatric nursing / Mental health nursing, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Medical (inc Patients)