Literature and psychiatry: a mutually interested view

This discussion paper addresses a perceived gap between nurses and literature. The author contends that nurses are suspicious of literature. As a consequence nurses are disadvantaged when works of fiction are dismissed in relation to their thinking and to elements of their professional practice in emotional work with the people who use mental health services. The author contends that a cloud of suspicion hangs over literature in many nurses' minds, and that a long conditioning of a practical, problem-solving discipline obviates the need to read widely. Therefore the practical necessity of distinguishing between good or bad books, well or badly-written books, and useful books is often not addressed. A parallel is to be drawn between a creative writer's construction of his/her characters and the psychiatric nurse/therapist's efforts to empathize with clients' experience, as either activity can be an emotional experience.