This was an excellent book to listen to. I always enjoy having the author do the reading as it allows for what they were thinking while they write. He does a great job of drawing the reader/listener into his world.

Reading the title of the book led to an immediate request on Netgalley. One huge issue in the broken American healthcare system is the way mental health is treated as an afterthought and, until recently, rarely integrated into the rest of healthcare. After the mental health issues that came up in the Covid pandemic this is starting to change, but definitely not fast enough.

Dr Tweedy's book on this topic was very good. I listened to the audiobook which was read by the author. He did an excellent job reading and it personalized the stories a lot. While not necessarily gripping, I found his stories very interesting throughout. I was never bored and the book lacked the "filler" you often see authors use to stretch a book's length. His writing style reminded me of Atul Gawande in using patients and his own experiences to highlight the issues he is addressing. While not to the level of Gawande (he is the 5-star gold standard of the genre in my opinion) he is definitely up there. I have read a number of memoirs which promise in the description to address societal issues but end up just being personal stories that don't deliver any larger messages. While heavier on the stories than larger messages, this book does give us good examples of how we can center and integrate mental health in the US Healthcare system. This book is a great choice for those looking to see where we went wrong and how we can do better. Dr Tweedy's excellent analysis and experience makes him the right person to write this book.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced review copy of this audiobook!

This was an insightful memoir of a Psychiatrist spanning from his training as a medical student to his practice as a full fledged physician. The stories and struggles of mental health and the challenges that he faced are well described and eye opening.. It will take practitioners like Dr. Tweedy to make a change in the field and improve the outcomes for the current crisis in mental health. This is a must read for anyone with a remote interest in our mental health care system.

Thankyou Netgalley and MacMillan audio for this ARC.

A big thank you to NetGalley for an early release audiobook of Facing the Unseen. An immeasurable thank you to Dr. Tweedy for his time and limitless efforts to shining a light and aiding the mostly hidden lens on mental health.

I will preface my review by stating that I am nearly 20 years in the field of medicine and found the language very second nature and very comfortable in all aspects of discussion. I did collaborate with my husband to get a more unique point of view of a physician and his opinion on things discussed. We, in the end, were very agreed upon our feelings of this publication.

Following Damon through his growth as an intern to physician as well as a human being was so essential to pulling the elements together. What a general person may think of as someone with a mental health disorder can be so disheartening, but why? It's all tragic, really. We get to see the scenes in broken down pieces, thanks to Tweedy, as he walks us through his exposures in a hospital setting with his piers, instructors and patients. There was so much stigma early on even within the health care system centered on shame and fear when it came to mental health. The language used and the culture in health care was damaging for them selves and their patients. Damon began to recognize, early on, that there was something not quite right with how things were for patients suffering from mental health issues and his curiosity eventually lead him to change his language and practiced health culture and ultimately his career path. I am, as I'm sure many others are, very thankful Dr. Tweedy had an inner voice that lead him to his path and his drive to create a powerful paradigm shift in mental health culture in hospitals and in the public.

Dr. Tweedy uses his specially critiqued timeline to build on the complexity of the patients he was exposed to and their approach to care. We were introduced to the general stigma, types of mental health circumstances and even state mental hospitals, which I can agree with when I did my rotation it was frightening and sad. We touched on misdiagnosis and polypharmacy. All of these elements are so dire for the individual and the treatment for all.

A quick side note, also touched on by Tweedy, the physicians are tested beyond their limits of will with how much they can endure and often some do ultimately break from the sheer exhaustion and trauma. The system is broken and health care workers, especially physicians need better care especially during internship. The culture is slowly changing and with it the language.

My time in the ER was sharply brought back in to focus when Tweedy discussed patients needing mental health help and how they were "handled" was jarring. Most were brought in by police despite their chief complaint, and held for extreme hours in the closed off wing until a care plan was finalized.

As far as the hospital itself failing the patients with mental health culture, its always limiting, hand cuffs really, the providers and their desired plans by the CEO structure and the insurance system. I'll try not to tangent, but I can't imagine the rings of fire for management here. It's infuriating.

I could go on and discuss each point of the chapters, because all points discussed were essential and well outlined. Time with patients being long enough and acknowledgement are large elements of growth for the culture along with proper time/dosage for medicinal regimens to take effect (longer than yo think).

Again, this memoir spoke my language so following along was very easy. As for a general reader, the exposure is still so essential but a dictionary or aid of a friend in the field may be needed. I also think this would be a great read for residents and nursing students to A) reduce the shock of being introduced to the mental health culture and B) to give them tools to work with to have a better outcome for themselves and mostly their patients.

I look forward to more publications by this individual and will also read his previous publication, Black Man in a White Coat.
It's called 'practicing medicine' for a reason. There is always room for improvement and there is always more to learn.

Thank you again to Dr. Tweedy for sharing a personal and very educational lens on mental health culture.

Dr. Damon Tweedy is a psychiatrist who has learned through experience that there is a large divide between care for the emotional and the physical self. His newest book discusses his experiences as he was just starting out and how things have changed, which unfortunately is not much. He explains why psychiatry is separate and on unequal footing compared to the rest of medicine and why coordinated or collaborative care is a necessity.

This book was not what I expected, although I found it enlightening. I was hoping it would be more solution based, but it primarily centered on cases that Dr. Tweedy has seen and how he was able to achieve a better outcome through holistic care. He recognizes that things need to change, and a doctor cannot cover a patient’s entire medical history during a 15-minute visit. He highlights how important diagnoses can be missed when a doctor or specialist only focuses on the body and not the mind, and vice versa, when a psychiatrist only focuses on a patient’s mental health diagnosis, often assuming that physical symptoms are the result of the mental illness. I agree with his assessment that treating patients is disease, crisis and hospital focused. But integrating change is not easy, nor are there enough practitioners.

I listened to the audiobook version, read by the author. It was powerful to hear the author speak his own words and to acknowledge his own stigma and those of other doctors against people with mental health challenges. I found that he spoke fairly quickly and sometimes would drop off the end of words, particularly at the end of sentences, so I often had to rewind.

I work in the mental health field, but would highly recommend this book to anyone, since most of us visit doctors at some point. It was well written and easy to understand.

Sir William Osler, a Canadian physician and one of the founders of Johns Hopkins Hospital stated that, “The good physician treats the disease, the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” Recently, mental health has received significant attention, particularly around school age children. Let’s hope this book will start a conversation that leads to changes to treat the whole patient. Because the system, as it stands today, is broken.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for providing an advance audio copy of this compelling book in exchange for my honest review.

I received a free audiobook from Netgalley for a review of this book. I work in mental health. This was one the best books I have ever read (or listened to) on mental health. The author, who is a psychiatrist, admits he doesn't know all the answers. The book is real and should be read by everyone in the field

The doctor admits to having mental health stigma's. He talks about his first psychiatric rotation. He really makes you think about how we approach mental mental.

The book talks about how he used to approach mental health. Ways his patients and colleagues have made him approach mental health now. He talks about his experience in life and medicine.

I finished this audiobook in less than 5 days. It really touched me. Also, made me realize as a society and my own stigma's in mental health. It is such an interesting and easy to read book.

I hope this book starts a new conversation on mental health. Let's us talk more about the body and mind aspect that the author talks about in this book. I hope this book helps us make some changes in mental health.

This book was such a a positive book on mental health. A positive approach to our mental health crisis. I am hoping Dr. Tweedy will do a book tour. I would love to see and listen to him in person. I would love to hear more what he has to say.

Facing the Unseen by Damon Tweedy, M.D. is a nonfiction book about the author's experience being introduced to mental health, both personally and professionally, and his perspective on how mental health care should be integrated within all health care treatment plans.

As a therapist I gravitate towards books like this. I support his message and think it's an important one to tell. Tweedy is an engaging narrator and was easy to listen to. His candidness and humility support his approach to discussing matters that a lot of people might want to avoid talking or thinking about.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio (St. Martin's Press), and the author for granting me an audiobook ARC in return for my honest review. This book is expected to be published April 9, 2024.