A review by allysw
Voluntary Madness: Lost and Found in the Mental Healthcare System by Norah Vincent

I honestly don't know what to say about this one other than it made me think. A lot. She's very skeptical of drugs and meds in general. I have major issues with that in the first place. She comes from a place of being incredibly wary of Big Pharma. I get that. I do. It's a catch-22, being a person who takes drugs for mental illness. We need them, but they're also a product to be marketed and being aware of that is very healthy. And being aware of the side effects of major tranquilizers and heavy anti-psychotics that are used in hospital settings, sure, that is a good idea. But I'm just not sure if I buy her waxing poetic about how she's unsure of how her brain chemistry has been affected by a decade on Prozac. Come on. You just described half of America. We're fine.

There's a lot of navel-gazing and a lot of fighting on her part the fact that there may have been a med or two that could have shut out the constant, loud, angry symptoms of her depression. But once you get past that, her story and experiences are compelling. And the things she has to say about institutionalization in this country are valid.

Solid and thought-provoking. I think.