Twelve Cases

A Psychiatrist's True Stories of Mental Illness and Addiction (and Other Human Predispositions)

By: Daniel Mierlak MD PhD

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Are you curious about the shadowy parts of the human psyche? Join Dr. Daniel Mierlak, a psychiatrist for 25 years, on a journey to the stranger corners of human experience. Here you'll meet: Tony, chauffeur to the fabulously rich, who overcomes crippling anxiety only to find himself descend into a homicidal rage following a botched cosmetic procedure. Amanda, hospitalized for mania, who sees a change to her medicine as an assassination attempt, and then stalks her doctor for a year after discharge. James, a schizophrenic hearing voices telling him to kill himself, whose piano playing leads to a shocking secret about his past. Psychiatric treatment is normally a private encounter and often misunderstood.

In describing 12 of his most challenging cases, Dr. Mierlak brings you into his sessions, into his patients' lives, and into the world of psychiatry. Get ready for some surprises.

©2018 Daniel Mierlak, MD, PhD (P)2021 Tantor

Great story telling

As a undergrad psych major, this book opened my eyes to a lot of the abnormalities in the brain. The retelling of the stories were intriguing and left me with a desire to find out more. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the psyche

Trying too hard to be funny

Basically the author seemed to be trying too hard to be funny using vocabulary that was more complicated than it needed to be. It’s an irritation of mine when an author writes as if the only people who are going to read his book have the education level of a doctor. This book had that a few times AND he was trying to be funny so it came across as arrogant. I still gave it 4 stars because there definitely were funny parts and the person who read the book did a great job.

wow love it

i dunno if he meant this but wow it was quite funny. i loved the stories. so true to life. talking with a coworker it felt like and i loved that. the self doubt, problem solving, sudden ends, definitely true to my expereince in counseling

Insightful therapy cases

The author takes you through 12 cases of clients from a Psychiatrist’s viewpoint. I found it to be interesting and thought-provoking. Some cases were more relatable than others, but on a whole it was very well written.