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.
She decided to get healthy and to study the effect of treatment on the depressed and insane "in the bin," as she calls it. Out of this raw and overwhelming experience came the idea for her next book. On the advice of her psychologist she committed herself to a mental institution. Suffering from severe depression, Vincent felt she was a danger to herself. "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title."Norah Vincent's last book left her emotionally drained. (Jan.)Ĭopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Though keenly observed, her account never fully transcends its central gimmick. The conclusions Vincent draws from her experiences tend toward the obvious (the better the facilities, the better chance for recovery) and the banal: No one can heal you except you. Meanwhile, her fellow patients are easily able to peg her as an emotional parasite, though this rarely stops them from interacting with her-and though their neediness sometimes frustrates her, she is less judgmental of them than of the doctors and nurses.
An attempt to wean herself off Prozac, for example, adds a greater sense of urgency to her second research trip, while the therapists overseeing her final treatment lead her to a major emotional breakthrough. The grand tour consists of voluntary commitments to a hospital mental ward, a small private facility and a boutique facility but Vincent's efforts to make a big statement about the state of mental health treatment quickly give way to a more personal journey. Vincent's first trip to a mental institution-to which the writing of Self-Made Man drove her-convinced her that further immersion would give her great material for a follow-up.
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