Scottish psychiatrist, John Eagles, who served his profession for three decades gets his novel, Starting to Shrink, featured in the Scottish newspaper, The Courier. After his retirement, he joined the MLitt, in Creative Writing course at Dundee University. He published his first novel which is set in Scotland in the era of 1980.

Dr. Douglas Barker is the main character of the novel, whose first year in the field of psychiatry is filled with a number of interesting characters and challenging patients. His job is fantastic but things start drifting when he falls for her voluptuous consultant, Dr Burlington.

As Barker thinks that his life is perfectly balanced, his profession and personal life collide against each other. A patient accuses the psychiatrist of having sex with her consultant, which is backed by Dr Burlington too.

After this incident, his whole future is thrown into jeopardy as the complaint goes to the General Medical Council. He is asked to present himself in front of a jury in London, where his career is hanging by a thread.

The novel sheds light on the realities of mental illnesses and how the doctors put their own lives and careers on line in treating the most vicious patients. Starting to Shrink also enhances the interest in psychological medicine, from the perspective of a psychiatrist who gave more than 30 years to this profession.