Be More Human: Why Mental Health Care is Broken – and What We Can Do to Fix It

by Norman Lamb, Professor Tanya Byron - introduction

Why do people with mental health conditions die 15-20 years earlier than people without?
Why is £100 million spent every year placing patients far from their homes?
How did the question, 'What matters to you?' transform mental health care in Norway?

We live in a country in which community is fading, inequality is growing, and discrimination is still far too common. At the same time, services dedicated to our wellbeing and mental health can feel less than human - ignoring or even adding to this growing crisis.

Sir Norman Lamb - former Health Minister, NHS trust chair, and dedicated mental health campaigner - has seen the cracks in the system up close. In this book, he sets out to answer the questions above, and many others, uncovering the real reasons why our mental health services are failing. In its pages you'll read eye-opening stories from patients who have been let down, but you will also hear inspiring tales from trailblazers who are shaking things up with creative, community-first solutions.

Sir Norman is clear - we need a mental health revolution - but what can we do to create mental health care which is more human?

Audible Audio

Published August 27, 2026

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good account of how services could be run, to be more inclusive and compassionate.

But - being (presumably deliberately) apolitical - the book avoids analysing why UK healthcare, social care, the education system are in the state they are. It also lacks discussion of how the examples of exemplary care could actually be rolled out across the whole of the country.

[Alex Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A harrowing dissection of the faults of the mental health care system in the UK, especially condemning forced confinement, use of force, overmedication, overuse of solitary confinement and generally treating mental health patients worse than prisoners. It also highlights how marginalized patients for example Black, Muslim or autistic are often discriminated more, treated worse, and end up getting worse instead of better. Some stories included in this book include lifelong trauma or even death, and it was very shocking to see those things still happening in the modern day in a "civilized" country, we tend to think "bedlams" or "insane asylums" where patients are mistreated is some Victorian horror story, but unfortunately things are still not good.

On the other hand, the second half of the book focuses on hope and potential solutions. Programs that could help the community while lowering public money spending, as prevention is cheaper than dealing with the fallout. Not only the current systems are expensive in itself, but also there's a big money loss involved in so many vulnerable people ending up as school dropouts, jobless, homeless or incarcerated, and many of them could be functional and productive citizens if offered proper help and support.

Overall, it was a very informative read, albeit not easy to stomach. I would hope this plea for change reaches the people who are decisionmakers.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of this book made me incredibly sad and some of it made me feel incredibly hopeful. There were stories that really resonated with me from my home town. The sad fact is that most of the people who read this probably can’t do anything about the big picture,
But maybe he can, maybe we can start a groundswell by supporting ourselves and helping to support others. Thanks to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishing for the ARC.

[Jen Hambling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite feedback ive had from colleagues on norman as a person, i found this book promising and has given me ideas to take back to my practice but has also shone light onto where services go wrong and the culture of mental health in the uk, listened ti this one!