by Brett Kahr
First published 2020
A disturbing examination of the history of mental health treatment. Patients in asylums are subjected to horrific abuses, from electroshock therapy to forced sterilization. Yet the doctors who wield this power remain untouchable, their reputations unquestioned. This is a harrowing look at how the vulnerable are betrayed by those sworn to care for them. This is a powerful and unsettling work that forces us to confront the dark legacies of institutional psychiatry.
Genres: mental-health, abuse, 20th-century, non-fiction, psychiatry, history-of-medicine, medical-ethics, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, thought-provoking, unsettling
Tropes: expos, social-commentary
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
216 pages · Paperback · Karnac Books
Content warnings: abuse, medical-trauma, mental-illness