How Do You Feel?

A poignant and thought-provoking memoir following one psychiatrist and four of her patients as they deal with the unspoken mental and physical costs of caring for others.

For Dr Jessi Gold, everything was absolutely fine – until it suddenly wasn’t. As an assistant professor, practising psychiatrist, and dedicated friend and family member, Jessi was used to being busy. After all, people – her patients, colleagues and loved ones – needed her, and she prioritised the needs of others. But when Jessi becomes so mentally overwhelmed that she commits an unthinkable error during a patient session, she’s forced to reevaluate everything that the medical system has taught her.

While reassessing her own complex relationship to the healthcare industry, Jessi examines it through the eyes of some of her healthcare-worker patients – a thirtysomething resident with OCD, a pregnant nurse suffering from PTSD, an aspiring medical student with crippling test anxiety, and an experienced but overwhelmed ER physician. Through them, Jessi recognises that she is not alone in struggling to maintain her humanity, although she chose medicine because of its humanity in the first place.

Skilfully weaving research expertise with unforgettable stories and raw emotion, How Do You Feel? demonstrates the unbridled capacity that we as humans have for connecting, learning, and growing. At once deeply personal and utterly universal, it reminds us all that when caring for others, we first have to remember to care for ourselves.