Psychiatric institutions both real and fictional are often described in books as places full of fear, manipulation and danger. authors often take creative liberties to heighten intrigue and scare their readers with tales of abuse, hauntings, and corruption. Although these issues may have been closer to reality in past generations, one hopes that as a society we are making progress toward better treatment and better facilities.
I have worked in many mental health and addiction treatment centers in my career as a psychotherapist, and my experiences in these settings helped inform my first novel, The Blind. Its protagonist, Dr. Samantha James, works at Typhlos, a fictional psychiatric institution in Manhattan that suffers from overcrowding and underfunding. Despite feeling trapped in bureaucracy, Sam is a fearless clinician who does everything in her power to reach out and help her patients, something that, happily, is also a common reality. typhlos acts as a backdrop for her journey, teetering on the brink of mental illness, and her experience is mirrored in the chaos of the institution itself.
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The following books are diverse depictions of institutions (for both mental health and drug and alcohol treatment) as they once existed and as they exist today, as well as the humanity and compassion that flourishes within the walls of these facilities.
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1. one flew over the cuckoo’s nest by ken keseyin this masterful depiction of the relationships that develop between patients and staff at an oregon institution, kesey explores the bigger questions of who’s mentally okay, who’s not okay and who makes that distinction. Narrated by “Boss” Bromden, Randle MacMurphy’s relationship with the great nurse Ratched is a shining example of the terrifying power struggle that can exist within treatment facilities and the terrifying abuses of authority that can take place there. /p>
2. I never promised you a rose garden by hannah green. I first read this book when she was a teenager and was struck by the imaginary world of yr that the author frequently visited and discussed with her psychiatrists. the doctors, based on the author’s real-life psychiatrist, are not convinced that yr’s world is a real hoax and base her diagnosis on the idea that she is making up her delusions to impress the doctors her. while this may seem like a step in the wrong direction, the doctors are impressed with her ability to create such a detailed and magical realm, and believe this is an indication that she will be able to make a successful recovery. A story of hope and understanding, I Never Promised You A Rose Garden shows what can happen when she empowers a patient to help her own treatment.
3. madness with grace: the rise and fall of america’s leading psychiatric hospital by alex beam, a fictional setting for both the bell jar and the girl, interrupted, mclean hospital is the main character in the nonfiction work of beam. describes the hospital at the administrative, clinical, and patient levels, and explores the history of the physical plant itself, the society that surrounds it, and its ultimate fate. Through the decades in which McLean served as the backdrop for countless stories of tragedy and recovery, Beam takes a critical, often aloof, sometimes comical approach to depicting and dismantling the mysteries and nuances of a famous institution. /p>
4. girl, interrupted by susanna kaysen’s memoir kaysen explores her experiences at mclean hospital, where she was admitted after overdosing, and was eventually diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Kaysen describes the oscillation between feelings of madness and sanity, and she struggles to determine how she can be placed squarely in one category or the other. this book has detailed portraits of other patients, as well as full accounts of her experiences with her staff. the richness of her narrative, combined with the almost terrifying storytelling, create a compelling look at life in a 1960s mental hospital.
5. a million little pieces by james frey frey’s depiction of the cold, sterile world inside a drug and alcohol treatment facility, structured with schedules and rules that are inevitably broken, echoes the actual hallways where i have worked as a psychotherapist and addictions. adviser. Despite the controversy surrounding the veracity of the stories in this work, Frey illustrates an authentic journey into and ultimately out of hospital treatment. a million little pieces also deftly explores the complicated role family plays in treatment.
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6. It’s kind of a funny Ned Vizzini story. Vizinni’s beautifully told story of institutionalization after a suicide attempt becomes even more powerful and relevant in the wake of the author’s suicide. Having grown up in New York City, Vizzini created a semi-autobiographical young adult story of a privileged New York City teen going through the depths of depression, who learns in treatment that he has talents he can use to help him through. your recovery. is a hopeful story, highlighting the often-overlooked hopeful possibilities of psychiatric treatment.
7. i know this is true of wally lamb. there are so many things that happen in this book: the experience of being a twin, survivor’s guilt, sexual abuse and self-harm, that the reader is left scared and breathless. The institution is one of those dangerous and corrupt fictional places that have obsessed and fascinated readers for generations. through the twists and turns, the shakes and the tears one experiences, in the end it is a powerful story of family support and loyalty in the face of serious illness and tragic circumstances.
8. great apes of their own volition the worlds of mental health treatment and addiction counseling are often downcast and difficult. in fictional and historical depictions, catastrophic endings and gruesome settings are ubiquitous. call will self and his magnificent satirical and thought-provoking novel, where humans and chimpanzees have traded places in the pecking order, for the comic relief we’ve been longing for.
9. go ask alice anonymouslyAlthough there is controversy surrounding the presentation of this book as a real diary when it is a work of fiction, I find it to be an excellent representation of the fears and anxieties of adolescence that, in the case of the protagonist, they lead her to experiment and self-medicate with drugs, which eventually results in her hospitalization. the vulnerability the author expresses feels at times almost too much to bear.
10. Sylvia Plath’s Bell Jar Perhaps the best-known depiction of an individual experience of madness, the Bell Jar was made all the more poignant in the wake of Plath’s eventual suicide in 1963. A somewhat autobiographical work of fiction, the story takes Take readers on an extraordinary journey into the mind of Esther Greenwood as she descends into madness. The book is based on Plath’s experience at McLean Hospital, and illuminates the experience of losing oneself with such realism and clarity that one cannot help but question one’s own fragile psyche.
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- af brady’s the blind is a harlequin publication priced at £12.99. It is available from Guardian Bookshop for £11.04 including free UK postage.
- In the UK, the Samaritans can be reached by calling 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. in australia, the crisis support service helpline is 13 11 14. other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.