A fascinating journey.Not nearly as interesting as the premise suggests, and probably the only memoir I've ever read where the author exhibits absolutely no sense of humour. and full of brilliant observations Camilla Long, Sunday Times As near as is possible in a single account, this presents the full spectrum of psychiatry in operation Blake Morrison, Guardian it's worth a read The originality of Voluntary Madness lies in the fact that Vincent is reporting from inside the system at its three cardinal levels: a hard-core public institution, a more congenial private equivalent, and an intensively personalised therapeutic realm. Voluntary Madness is a very personal account of what it's like to be committed. Her immersive approach to her subject matter allows a lot of insight that wouldn't be possible with a more traditional, objective style of journalism and this is what makes her book work.

Her account veers sharply into a dissection of her own mental health problems but she asks pertinent questions about whether locking people up really helps Metro Vincent reminds us that there is a (locked, secret) world beyond our office windows and internet search engines Financial Times Few journalists now leave their desks in search of a story. Read moreĪ brave and compelling book Simon Shaw, Mail on SundayĪ worthwhile and surprisingly easy read for anyone interested in mental illness. The result is a fearless and unprecedented view of mental health care - from the inside out. From there she moves to Mobius, and a Buddhist-inspired brand of healing where she is forced to swim through West Coast psychobabble to some unexpected conclusions.

Her journey begins in a huge inner-city hospital, before moving to the calming green carpet of St Lukes where patients are offered a room of their own and a regular jog in the park. She left determined to learn more about the world of psychiatry and to examine whether different mental institutions would offer different solutions to their patients, but rather than researching it as a journalist she chose to experience it as a patient. In Norah Vincent's acclaimed first book she described how she spent eighteen months disguised as a man, an experience that ended on a locked ward in a psychiatric hospital. Bestselling 'immersion' journalist Norah Vincent takes on the mental health system - but when she gets sectioned she discovers that she's not just there to report, she's there to be cured.

Voluntary Madness by Norah Vincent