Rebecca Lawrence
DoctorUnited Kingdom
Rebecca Lawrence is a Scottish consultant psychiatrist who has worked at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, including in addiction and pain management. She is also the author of the 2024 memoir An Improbable Psychiatrist, which reflects on her path from experiencing severe mental illness as a patient to later training and working as a psychiatrist. [4]
Career and work
Lawrence studied medicine in Edinburgh and initially trained in general practice before later entering psychiatry. She completed specialist psychiatric training in Edinburgh and passed the membership examinations of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. [1]
She went on to train in addiction psychiatry and became a consultant psychiatrist, first in the Scottish Borders and later at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. Her clinical work has included addiction and pain management. [4]
In 2024, Cambridge University Press published her memoir, An Improbable Psychiatrist, about her experiences both as a doctor and as someone who has received psychiatric care herself. [1]
What has been publicly discussed
Sources and other resourcesExpand to view the sources used in this profile and resources to learn more.
Sources used for this profile
The following sources contain information that supports the claims made on this page.
An Improbable Psychiatrist — Rebecca Lawrence, Cambridge University Press, 2024 Lawrence’s memoir covering medical training, hospitalization, depression, elevated mood, diagnosis, ECT, lithium, and psychiatry.
book or publisher page“I thought mental illness meant I’d never be a doctor. Now I’m a consultant psychiatrist” — The Guardian, 2020 First-person account of illness, return to medicine, relapse, stigma, and clinical perspective.
article or webpage“As both a psychiatrist and a patient, I know how slippery a diagnosis can be” — The Guardian, 2020 First-person discussion of changing diagnoses and diagnostic uncertainty.
article or webpage
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Rebecca Lawrence — Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Professional biography and oral history covering her psychiatric career and lived experience.
interviewCambridge University Pressbook or publisher page Cambridge University Pressbook or publisher page
Learn more
Recommended books and other resources about Rebecca Lawrence and their experiences.
- “What it’s like to be on both sides of a mental health section” — The Guardian, 2021Article
Lawrence reflects on involuntary treatment from the perspectives of both patient and psychiatrist.
- “An Improbable Psychiatrist” — BJPsych Journals Podcast, 2025Podcast
A conversation with Lawrence about her memoir and her experience as both a psychiatrist and psychiatric patient.
- Rebecca Lawrence — Prospect MagazineArticle
Essays on psychiatry, ECT, mental illness, pain, and medical practice.