Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Viking, 2008.
Description
Norah Vincent's last book left her emotionally drained. Suffering from severe depression, Vincent felt she was a danger to herself. On the advice of her psychologist she committed herself to a mental institution. Out of this raw and overwhelming experience came the idea for her next book. She decided to get healthy and to study the effect of treatment on the depressed and insane "in the bin," as she calls it. Vincent's journey takes her from a big city hospital to a facility in the Midwest and finally to an upscale retreat down south, as she analyzes the impact of institutionalization on the unwell, the tyranny of drugs-as-treatment, and the dysfunctional dynamic between caregivers and patients. Vincent exposes her personal struggle insightfully as she explores the range of people, caregivers, and methodologies that guide these strange, often scary, and bizarre environments.--From publisher description.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member grunin
This is a very good book, though not what you might expect. At first it looks like it's going to be an undercover reporter's expose, a normal person faking crazy so the rest of us can see how our benighted brethren live. But eventually it turns out that she's not really faking, she needs help, and
As with her last book, 'Self-Made Man', this is an inadvertent coming-of-age story. The journalistic narrative is gradually displaced by her struggle for self-knowledge, and in the process she discovers all kinds of things that many people already know, in this case that interpersonal psychotherapy -- the kind that doesn't need a prescription pad -- actually works.
I hasten to add that this isn't the sentimental Hollywood version. She is wonderfully dry-eyed and skeptical, and acquires not pat solutions, but the logical means for navigating past the twin whirlpools of rage and despair.
Thus her story is essentially universal. Everyone struggles with these things from time to time, and her presentation if free of the self-pity and/or glibness that are endemic to the this sort of story. It's not Thomas Szasz, nor is it Oliver Sacks, but it's still a useful and necessary book for times like ours, when psychopharmacology (and the pseudo-scientific 'cost-benefit' analysis that enthrones it) has not merely eclipsed the traditional talking cure but nearly driven it into hiding.
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more than she knows. As with her last book, 'Self-Made Man', this is an inadvertent coming-of-age story. The journalistic narrative is gradually displaced by her struggle for self-knowledge, and in the process she discovers all kinds of things that many people already know, in this case that interpersonal psychotherapy -- the kind that doesn't need a prescription pad -- actually works.
I hasten to add that this isn't the sentimental Hollywood version. She is wonderfully dry-eyed and skeptical, and acquires not pat solutions, but the logical means for navigating past the twin whirlpools of rage and despair.
Thus her story is essentially universal. Everyone struggles with these things from time to time, and her presentation if free of the self-pity and/or glibness that are endemic to the this sort of story. It's not Thomas Szasz, nor is it Oliver Sacks, but it's still a useful and necessary book for times like ours, when psychopharmacology (and the pseudo-scientific 'cost-benefit' analysis that enthrones it) has not merely eclipsed the traditional talking cure but nearly driven it into hiding.
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LibraryThing member amaraduende
I did not
a) like the way this author writes. She turns phrases in an attempt be clever but usually just ends up writing something at best tangential to her main point.
b) really like this author as a person.
I did finish this book, which says something, but I wouldn't recommend it.
a) like the way this author writes. She turns phrases in an attempt be clever but usually just ends up writing something at best tangential to her main point.
b) really like this author as a person.
I did finish this book, which says something, but I wouldn't recommend it.
LibraryThing member frisbeesage
Norah Vncent is no stranger to mental illness or the institues and doctors who treat it. After a particularly harrowing experience she decides to check herself in to three different facilities and write about what she finds. She goes into the project with a clear idea of the injustice and drug
I listened to this book on audio, read by Tavia Gilbert. SHe does a good job with the narration especially during the extremely emotional breakthroughs that Norah Vincent has. This is such a worthwhile book! I learned a lot about anti-pschotic drugs, mental illnesses, and especially about what happiness is and how it can be attained.
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abuse she expects to find, but a curious emotional detachment given her past experiences. Early on her suspicions are confirmed and she seems to really be just going through the motions. Don't give up on this book at this point! Towards the end she is faced with some big surprises, has a huge and profround breakthrough of her own, and comes to some very insightful conclusions about the industry based around the "curing" of the mentally ill. By the end Vincent has written a astounding, brutally honest account of her own struggle with depression and how she found her way with both the help and hindrance of professionals.I listened to this book on audio, read by Tavia Gilbert. SHe does a good job with the narration especially during the extremely emotional breakthroughs that Norah Vincent has. This is such a worthwhile book! I learned a lot about anti-pschotic drugs, mental illnesses, and especially about what happiness is and how it can be attained.
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LibraryThing member bragan
Norah Vincent spent a few days in a psychiatric ward during a bad bout of depression. She hated the experience, but decided afterward that it would be a worthwhile journalistic endeavor to check herself into a few different facilities and report on the results... a plan that mutated slightly when
It's hard to know quite what to say about this book. Something about Vincent's style rubbed me the wrong way occasionally. There are lots of rambling, disjointed philosophical questions without answers, for instance, in passages that seem designed to evoke a sense of her mental state, but which are only partially successful. And her responses and assessments are very far from objective, though to her credit she does realize and acknowledge this.
On the other hand, it's clear that this book took some degree of genuine emotional courage to write, which I do have to respect. And if many of her thoughts and insights are too personal to judge, the glimpses she gives into both the positives and the negatives of various corners of the US psychiatric system are worth paying attention to.
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she found herself in genuine need of help.It's hard to know quite what to say about this book. Something about Vincent's style rubbed me the wrong way occasionally. There are lots of rambling, disjointed philosophical questions without answers, for instance, in passages that seem designed to evoke a sense of her mental state, but which are only partially successful. And her responses and assessments are very far from objective, though to her credit she does realize and acknowledge this.
On the other hand, it's clear that this book took some degree of genuine emotional courage to write, which I do have to respect. And if many of her thoughts and insights are too personal to judge, the glimpses she gives into both the positives and the negatives of various corners of the US psychiatric system are worth paying attention to.
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LibraryThing member Sararush
In Norah Vincent’s last book she describes disguising herself and living as a man in every way imaginable for six months. She concludes that book by committing herself to a mental institution. Tough to top? Not for Vincent who turned that experience into the idea for this memoir. She would commit
She easily gets herself committed into her first public health facility and begins to recount colorful stories about her fellow mental patients and scathing criticisms about the hypocrisy of the system. Only Vincent is no stranger to mental demons. She is currently taking Prozac for a history of depression and medication to aide sleep. When she stops taking her medication, she falls into a depression. So before she can commit herself into her next facility, the book then takes a turn. While it still punches at mental health procedure, it mostly becomes the author’s personal internal struggle to heal herself. Although the author does make progress and delivers some jewels about modern treatment methods worth considering, the book falls short of the salacious premise originally embarked upon.
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herself into three mental health facilities, and dish out all the dirty details of mental health facilities from the patient perspective. She easily gets herself committed into her first public health facility and begins to recount colorful stories about her fellow mental patients and scathing criticisms about the hypocrisy of the system. Only Vincent is no stranger to mental demons. She is currently taking Prozac for a history of depression and medication to aide sleep. When she stops taking her medication, she falls into a depression. So before she can commit herself into her next facility, the book then takes a turn. While it still punches at mental health procedure, it mostly becomes the author’s personal internal struggle to heal herself. Although the author does make progress and delivers some jewels about modern treatment methods worth considering, the book falls short of the salacious premise originally embarked upon.
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
Like many memoirs, this one captured my affection at the very end. The beginning chapters annoyed me. Ms. Vincent took the stance that all mental illness medication was terrible and over-prescribed and that doctors and health care workers really only cared about keeping people medicated. Her stance
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mellowed a bit as she experienced care in three different institutions and came to realize that healing or living with mental illness depends on the desire of the person who is ill. No one can fix someone else. She went from being a person who let others impose their ideas on her, to taking responsibility for her own mental health and doing the things she needs to do to live well with depression. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisalangford
It seemed as though there were two different books here, or two different voices throughout. One voice was that of the detached, though immersed, observer. The other voice was that of a patient on a journey with her own demons, issues and struggles. Both were interesting, and Vincent came up with
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some interesting conclusions about inpatient mental health treatment, as well as what it means to get better/well/on the road to being healthy. I kind of wanted the book to be in one voice or the other, though perhaps with mental health, there is no way to do both. Show Less
LibraryThing member austinbarnes
I wasn't particularly fond of the writing style, but enjoyed reading the author's experiences. I hope I'm never committed to a state mental institution.
LibraryThing member dianemb
This book turned out to be entirely different from my expectations. I was expecting a rather light, humorous kind of book and instead found one that was profoundly enlightening and moving. The author, Norah Vincent, herself a sufferer of depression, decided she would spend a year "undercover" in 3
Also, as a mental health consumer myself and being well aware of the stigma that is attached to mental illness, I found Vincent put into words feelings and thoughts that I have experienced often but did not know how to express. What it boils down to is all human beings want to be treated with respect. A great book!
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different mental health facilities in the United States. She found the type of care and degree of empathy on the part of the staff varied tremendously depending on whether the facility was public or private and the economic position of the patients.Also, as a mental health consumer myself and being well aware of the stigma that is attached to mental illness, I found Vincent put into words feelings and thoughts that I have experienced often but did not know how to express. What it boils down to is all human beings want to be treated with respect. A great book!
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LibraryThing member flouncyninja
I’m not really sure where to start with this. I don’t usually read non-fiction because it lacks any need for imagination or some new place that I can lose myself in. It’s reality. Like going outside or reading a newspaper or watching CNN. This book in particular was a harsh reality: a
According to Vincent, this book started as an investigative journalism piece, where she would admit herself into three very different types of institutions: an under-funded urban hospital ward that treated mostly the homeless; a private clinic in the Midwest that served a middle class white clientele, generally suffering from depression and boredom; and a private less conventional treatment center that catered to the upper class, mostly people who had been sent there under court mandate to get clean from drug and alcohol abuse.
Somewhere around the beginning of her first stay, her own precarious mental state crumbled and what could have potentially been an interesting examination of how mental health is treated in different areas of the country turned into an examination of one person’s mental health and how it was treated in different locations. Things took a much more personal turn very early on and increased in disturbing detail until Vincent is more or less using the book itself as personal therapy. By the end, the personal nature of the confessions Vincent was making were uncomfortable and disturbing.
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treatise on the abuse of medication in patients, the sad state of urban mental health centers, and above all, a bleak, raw confessional about Norah Vincent’s own history of mental health issues. When you think there’s a hint of light coming from around the corner, something else disturbing or depressing comes up to block it.According to Vincent, this book started as an investigative journalism piece, where she would admit herself into three very different types of institutions: an under-funded urban hospital ward that treated mostly the homeless; a private clinic in the Midwest that served a middle class white clientele, generally suffering from depression and boredom; and a private less conventional treatment center that catered to the upper class, mostly people who had been sent there under court mandate to get clean from drug and alcohol abuse.
Somewhere around the beginning of her first stay, her own precarious mental state crumbled and what could have potentially been an interesting examination of how mental health is treated in different areas of the country turned into an examination of one person’s mental health and how it was treated in different locations. Things took a much more personal turn very early on and increased in disturbing detail until Vincent is more or less using the book itself as personal therapy. By the end, the personal nature of the confessions Vincent was making were uncomfortable and disturbing.
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LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
I can't write an effective review of this. ?�Not least because every reader will absolutely react to it differently, because of the different kinds of experiences we all have with the mental health system. ?á
My situation is that I've been subject to minor depression my whole life. ?áOnce I
Given that, I found this book effective and fascinating. ?áIt's a mess, but that's appropriate. ?áVincent is brave & brilliant indeed. ?áShe's also too close to see the forest for the trees, and she knows this. ?áShe makes some pleas for treatment strategies for patients, and then later admits that even if those were implemented, they might not help much and might backfire in some cases. ?áShe had a moment of epiphany, but admits that she'll never be happy and whole, much less free of all meds. ?áEtc. ?á
I do like that she reminds us of the power of breathing well?á(gotta try den chi bon) and of laughter (lately I've benefited from watching YouTube clips from Big Bang Theory).
The only time that I noticed her being wholly blind was when she was blaming the town & region of the Midwest for making it difficult for the patients of St. Luke's to be healthy. ?áThat's the kind of BS I've learned to expect from those who justify living in the termite mound that is NYC. ?á... ?áOk, no, some ppl are suited for New York, and some for the Great Plains... would that she could see the difference. ?áEspecially, would that she could see that the 'urban jungle' actually might not be the healthiest environment for her....
Anyway, I loved Self-Made Man and I hope she's doing well enough to write another book. ?áIt doesn't have to be immersive journalism; I'd read anything by her. ?áIf she's not writing, ok, I just hope she's found a path to a life of peace.
My situation is that I've been subject to minor depression my whole life. ?áOnce I
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was quite stressed by my home situation, and went on prozac. ?áI almost immediately went off it because I felt that it changed me, that it messed with my identity instead of just helping me cope. ?áSt. John's Wort was the best for me. ?áOff and on lately I've been considering simple talk therapy. ?áAlso, my eldest son has been diagnosed with depression and institutionalized twice, in a place that resembled Meriwether even though it was for juveniles. ?áHorrible experience, didn't help him. ?áHe also refuses drugs and does not benefit from talk therapy.Given that, I found this book effective and fascinating. ?áIt's a mess, but that's appropriate. ?áVincent is brave & brilliant indeed. ?áShe's also too close to see the forest for the trees, and she knows this. ?áShe makes some pleas for treatment strategies for patients, and then later admits that even if those were implemented, they might not help much and might backfire in some cases. ?áShe had a moment of epiphany, but admits that she'll never be happy and whole, much less free of all meds. ?áEtc. ?á
I do like that she reminds us of the power of breathing well?á(gotta try den chi bon) and of laughter (lately I've benefited from watching YouTube clips from Big Bang Theory).
The only time that I noticed her being wholly blind was when she was blaming the town & region of the Midwest for making it difficult for the patients of St. Luke's to be healthy. ?áThat's the kind of BS I've learned to expect from those who justify living in the termite mound that is NYC. ?á... ?áOk, no, some ppl are suited for New York, and some for the Great Plains... would that she could see the difference. ?áEspecially, would that she could see that the 'urban jungle' actually might not be the healthiest environment for her....
Anyway, I loved Self-Made Man and I hope she's doing well enough to write another book. ?áIt doesn't have to be immersive journalism; I'd read anything by her. ?áIf she's not writing, ok, I just hope she's found a path to a life of peace.
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LibraryThing member clarasayre
Wow, a very good read for anyone who has dealt with, is currently dealing with mental illness or is working in that field. I'm definitely checking out her other book...
LibraryThing member DanieXJ
I think that I liked this one a bit better than Self-Made Man. On the one hand, on occasion you cringe because some of the stuff in there seems just so personal, on the other hand, she is such an amazing writer that you get carried along through the book even if you're cringing.
LibraryThing member REINADECOPIAYPEGA
I could not make up my mind between giving this book 3 or 4 stars but decided to be generous and give it 4.
Having a recent ( first and definitely last ) 4 day stay in the psych ward of a local hospital ( not a City owned hospital - supposed private, but nothing like her 2nd ward ), I found the
I understand that we all have 'nice' points and ' not so nice ' ones, but some of her descriptions of the more pleasant staff irritated me. She called the office staff at St Luke ' menopausal mommies with fat fingers ' - not necessary. Her descriptions of the patients came across as mean spirited rather than just describing unpleasant traits and behavior. Having OCD and needing multiple showers a day did not make a bad situation better being around people all day who would not/could not shower and all the unpleasantness of unwashed hair and bodies entailed. So in one regard I get where her descriptions are coming from but .......
I am also not a fan of using scatological terms for anything one does in the bathroom, not because I am anti-cursing, I curse myself, so it is not a matter of prudery, but crassness and crudeness are not my bag.
I differed from her assessment of which of the 3 places were the 'best ' - I though Sr Pete, the social workers, the head shrink and support staff were lovely at St Luke's and a gazillion miles away from where I was locked up. There was no library where I was, no artwork, stripped down dull and boring rooms and no chapel for the patients but oddly one for the staff, which elicited a mega eye roll from me and my saying ' well, what the hell good is that ?? '.
3.5 stars.
Having a recent ( first and definitely last ) 4 day stay in the psych ward of a local hospital ( not a City owned hospital - supposed private, but nothing like her 2nd ward ), I found the
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conditions, rules, patients and behavior of the staff has mirrored her first hospital to a 't'. I hated every living breathing second of it and spent those 4 days alternatively slamming doors, starving as I would not eat that garbage they classified as food and strangling the staff with the bra that they had confiscated from me upon admittance (along with my my drawers, rest of my clothes, my jewelry including my cross and religious medals ). After much tussling, eye rolling, starving, phone calls, I got sprung in 4 days and am scarred for life. I am home 5 weeks now and am only now beginning to use the bathroom like a normal person and have learned to never ever fully trust anyone in that profession again, they have too much power and control over your destiny.I understand that we all have 'nice' points and ' not so nice ' ones, but some of her descriptions of the more pleasant staff irritated me. She called the office staff at St Luke ' menopausal mommies with fat fingers ' - not necessary. Her descriptions of the patients came across as mean spirited rather than just describing unpleasant traits and behavior. Having OCD and needing multiple showers a day did not make a bad situation better being around people all day who would not/could not shower and all the unpleasantness of unwashed hair and bodies entailed. So in one regard I get where her descriptions are coming from but .......
I am also not a fan of using scatological terms for anything one does in the bathroom, not because I am anti-cursing, I curse myself, so it is not a matter of prudery, but crassness and crudeness are not my bag.
I differed from her assessment of which of the 3 places were the 'best ' - I though Sr Pete, the social workers, the head shrink and support staff were lovely at St Luke's and a gazillion miles away from where I was locked up. There was no library where I was, no artwork, stripped down dull and boring rooms and no chapel for the patients but oddly one for the staff, which elicited a mega eye roll from me and my saying ' well, what the hell good is that ?? '.
3.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member Eye_Gee
I liked this book. Unlike some other reviewers I found a lot of dry humour in this memoir. And I found it intensely personal. What started out as an immersion journalism project, sort of an expose of the current state of psychiatric hospitals and our over-reliance on drugs to treat mental illness,
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clearly became an authentic inner journey for the authour. The three hospitals she visited (is that the right word when you voluntarily commit yourself someplace?) progressively became more therapeutic, and in the last one she let down her defences and gave herself over to facing some of the issues that had plagued her for years. I doubt many authors would allow themselves to be so raw and exposed on the page. For anyone who has experienced depression, her thoughts on the condition are insightful. I think you have to have been there, emothionally, to some extent to "get" this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member bnbooklady
I really enjoyed the memoir-ish aspects of Voluntary Madness, but Vincent’s attempts to expose “the state of mental healthcare in America” fall flat because they are nothing new. Readers who are entirely unfamiliar with mental health treatment will surely learn something from Vincent’s
Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog.
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experience, but for readers who have taken even an introductory psychology course, the ideas presented in Voluntary Madness will be nothing new. Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog.
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LibraryThing member KimMeyer
Stunt memoir about mental illness treatment facility? Should be right up my alley. Yet, no.
Subjects
Language
Physical description
284 p.; 24 inches
ISBN
0670019712 / 9780670019717