On his last day of high school Brett Hartman commits what at first seems like a harmless prank but later turns into the defining moment of his adolescence. Wracked with guilt and pressure from the legal system, his reality unravels into psychosis. Thus begins a twisted maze of forced hospitalizations, instant drugging and violation of patient consent. With unwavering intensity, Hartman chronicles his descent into madness and his struggle to recover while being bombarded by mind-numbing drugs.
Returning to college, he’s compelled to exact a kind of mental revenge by becoming a psychologist. It is during this quest that he learns about the inner workings of psychiatric treatment from the other side and how damaging such treatment can be for patients.
Told with humor and bluntness, the author takes us on a wild romp through psychiatric hell and back, exposing the lunacy along the way and pushing for a more balanced approach to patient care. Hammerhead 84 is both a scorching cultural indictment and an unforgettable triumph of the human soul.
