4,5*

‘Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen’ is a memoir about the experience of institutionalization, and how that experience extends after being discharged.
In a previous life I’ve studied Disability Studies, and although I don’t (want to) work in that field, I’m still very interested in books about mental illness, how it is experienced for the person itself and for outsiders, and how we care for people suffering from it.

This book was a heartfelt and honest personal journey, as well an interesting time document about mental institutions in the nineties.
I loved the construction of the book in fragments, but at times this caused a lack of focus. I believe more editing and deleting some scenes would’ve benefit the whole.

And then my favorite part: the parade of some of my favorite writers and books that represent mental health issues with crystal clarity: Virginia Woolf, The Bell Jar, The Yellow Wallpaper, Beloved, Audre Lorde and so on.
Really recommend this one!

<< By then, I had been in the hospital for months, since that night in March, They needed me to get better and instead I got better at being sick. I got better at being a mental patient. I got better at planning my death and better at speaking to psychiatrists. >>