As a psychiatrist I’ve heard the many jokes about those of us in the mental health field being ‘weird’ and ‘crazier than the people we treat’. Curiously, I’ve found that those making these taunts are the ones that most need someone who will listen to them and help them gain a better understanding of themselves. Over the years, I’ve found that human beings (doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs) are all pretty much the same, including psychiatrists. We want to be happy. We want to be loved and to love. We want to feel good about ourselves, have others like us and to feel that we have worth and a purpose in our lives. Yet sometimes events, other people and even ourselves get in the way of our quest for well-being. In The Looney Bin, I have my characters working in a mental health clinic to bring out the point that even experts in the human mind can have emotional difficulties and need some help just like anyone else. And whether they decide to help themselves…or not. My novel is about people. It’s goal is simple, to show that confronting our emotional fears rather than running from them will bring us the happiness we all seek and hope for.