Customer Reviews

Bedlam: A Year in the Life of a Mental Hospital

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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.

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?