Book Review: Sometimes Amazing Things Happen: Heartbreak and Hope on the Bellevue Hospital Psychiatric Prison Ward

Sometimes Amazing Things Happen: Heartbreak and Hope on the Bellevue Hospital Psychiatric Prison Ward, by Elizabeth Ford, MD, Regan Arts, New York, NY, 2017, ISBN 9781941393437, 272 pages, $27.95 hardcover.

     Ford tells the story of what life is like working at the notorious Bellevue Hospital in Staten Island. Along the way, she tells the stories of some of the clients and educates readers about corrections, psychiatry, and mental health care. It is an inside view of the daily processes of a psychiatric ward. The book follows 14 years of Dr. Ford’s life, giving the readers an intimate look at her raw emotional reactions to the psychiatric prison ward, as well as her coping techniques. As the head psychiatrist of the Bellevue Psychiatric Prison Ward, Ford writes of triumph, heartbreak, happiness, and defeat in this compelling account.

     One story may illustrate Ford’s dedication to her line of work and to her clients. She notices a client in the hallway who is angry and in pain. Staff are working to convince him to get a shot of medicine to calm him down, but he is refusing it. Using the trust she has built up with the client over time, Ford is able to get him to talk about his feelings, assures him that staff are not going to hurt him, and gets him to take the medication to help calm him down and help with his anxiety. Ford’s description of this conversation is filled with an empathetic and concerned tone. Her professionalism and compassion are very apparent as she continues to be a source of comfort to the client, but another near crisis arises as another client attempts to punch a staff member. Ford does not notice, but her client, now calmed down and resting, does. He shouts out a warning to alert staff, keeping everyone from getting hurt. I was touched by the raw emotions expressed in this story as a potentially violent client shifted so quickly from agitation to assistance. This story is beautiful, because it shows the type of rapport and trust that a client and clinician can build.

     Ford does a great job capturing what life is like working at a psychiatric prison ward, showing the different struggles, accomplishments, and much more of the daily happenings on the unit. The book has an authentic feel in its depictions of an inpatient unit, the type of work done, and the obstacles that both staff and clients have to overcome to get through the day.

     As an undergraduate social work student, I think everyone should take the time to read this book. The individual stories of the clients depict what living with mental illness and being involved with drugs or crime is really like. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the mental health or addictions field, because the stories are so powerful and allow readers to begin learning how to handle similar situations in future practice.

Reviewed by Tayler L. Hoogeveen, BSSW student, University of South Dakota.