A frightening and revealing peek inside the nation's mental hospitals presents the institutions, patients, and professionals that make up this often overlooked aspect of our society. By the author of Confessions of a Medical Heretic.
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Following his earlier Confessions of a Medical Heretic ( LJ 5/1/79), Bosco presents a biographical expose of conditions within a state mental hospital along the lines of Ivan Illich's Medical Nemesis ( LJ 5/1/76). By providing an outsider's view of the situation, he offers a valuable counterpoint to books by former patients (such as Kate Millett's The Loony-Bin Trip, LJ 4/15/90) and guards (Tom Ryan's Screw: A Guard's View of Bridgewater State Hospital, South End Pr., 1981). Bosco's descriptions of violence, horror, filth, and gallows humor, plus portraits of caring but demoralized staff working against inept bureaucrats more concerned with their own comfort than that of their patients, make this an eye-opening experience. A troubling book, difficult to put down, this belongs in psychology and social work collections.
- Scott Johnson, Meridian Community Coll. Lib., Miss.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Scott Johnson, Meridian Community Coll. Lib., Miss.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Life within a ``hell and heaven, dungeon and sanctuary'' for the mentally ill, here given the fictitious name of Bedloe State Hospital. Bosco (coauthor, Alone with the Devil, 1989) disguises names throughout, not only to protect the privacy of individuals but also to ensure that his story is not seen as simply an expos‚ of a specific institution--for he would have us know that there are a multitude of ``Bedloes'' in the land. A few statistics and trends are cited, but Bosco tells his story largely by getting inside the heads of people. Leading these is Bedloe's medical director, who has recurring dreams of being the first Psychiatrist General of the US with a wonderful program that takes care of everyone--except his own schizophrenic daughter. At work, he struggles with Bedloe's superintendent, a small-minded bureaucrat promoted above his level of competence. The staff includes humane, skilled doctors as well as ones who are a disgrace to their profession, compassionate attendants as well as sadistic ones. At the bottom of the pyramid are the patients themselves, mostly helpless and often hopeless. Neglect and abuse are commonplace, and murder, rape, and suicide are not unusual. Even more shocking--because of its acceptance as policy--is ``treatment by bus ticket,'' i.e., getting rid of patients by declaring them ``stabilized'' and putting them on a bus to another state. Keeping watch on all this horror are only an accreditation committee that permits Bedloe to exist but keeps it on probation, and the patients' families--some of which, driven by the failure of the system, have organized themselves into a force for change. In the ugly world Bosco describes, they are the brightest ray of hope. A grim and gripping report. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bedlam....Then and Now,
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This review is from: Bedlam: A Year in the Life of a Mental Hospital (Hardcover)
I ordered this book as part of research for the second edition of my own book on asylums and I admit I put it aside at first in favor of the better known books that sat in piles on my floor. However, I picked up the book and began reading it during Christmas vacation and finished in one day. I couldn't put it down, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. When I finished the book, I was sad to see it end. Brosco tells the story so smoothly and so engagingly that you forget you're reading about the horrors of being sucked into our mental health system.
After reading this book I had the pleasure of speaking with Dominick Brosco and will be writing the forward for the upcoming second printing of Bedlam as well as supplying the new cover photo. This is a book that, while it is 18 years old, continues to be more than relevant to society today. The story highlights the suffocating challenges facing those who care for our mentally ill and the heartbreak it causes many mental health professionals along with the patients and their families. This is a must read for anyone with an interest in psychology and mental health.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flowery prose growing from a bed of misery and hope,
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This review is from: Bedlam: A Year in the Life of a Mental Hospital (Hardcover)
The book sat on my shelf for a long time, which turned out to be a shame. The characters take life on a vivid stage that would normally be reserved for earth tones and grays, Bedlam paints a picture of life surrounding a state run mental facility, a harshly real setting, but perhaps one as alien to most as Middle Earth or Oz. For those touched by mental illness, directly or otherwise, I think it's depth of examination and beautiful prose will undoubtedly touch you in some way. For those who are lucky enough to have no lingering confusion about your own sanity, or that of your loved ones it will provide an interesting window into a world that exists parallel to your own, one rife with all the drama of any great story. Educational, uplifting, heartbreaking. What more could you want from a delicious read?
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