In the Name of Help

by Diane Klein

Cathryn Silberg knew that her marriage was doomed. But as she seeks help, she finds herself betrayed by the very people who claim to have her best interests at heart. Trapped by the mental health system and the courts, she finds she is no longer struggling to save a marriage, -- now she must save her own life!

IN THE NAME OF HELP is a gripping story, chilling in its insight into the sinister motivations that can drive our social institutions. Before you, or anyone you know seek professional help, you must read this book!

IN THE NAME OF HELP is the startling story of a woman caught in the mindless, uncaring snarl of America's mental health and judicial systems, and how, with real help from two caring friends, she fights her way back to reclaim her dignity and self-respect, from an institutional insanity that cruelly only promised to do something for her. After you read this book, you'll pray that this never happens to you or anyone you love.

IN THE NAME OF HELP is about a once beautiful and intelligent woman, whose marriage evolves into a kind of fatal attraction, then she suffers years of abusive and ultimately destructive psychiatric treatment, finally becoming totally dependent on those around her for her safety and survival. This, in spite of enormous wealth that is due her.

Through a series of medical and judicial actions, which are revelatory of some startling sore spots in our current society, she finds herself at the mercy of uncaring strangers, despite efforts of her friends to remove her and prevent her from further damaging treatments, and manipulation for monetary gain. This is a story of intrigue, a battle between the forces of good and evil, and a strong tale of love. It is shocking and powerful.

Not since Ken Kesey's, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, in 1962, has a novel dealt such a formidable blow to the atrocities that exist in what we call our mental health system.

Not in the past three decades has a story dealt more straightforwardly with the criminal practices of administering electric shock treatments, which cause severe, irreversible brain damage, and treatment with psychotropic substances, which though they are called medications, alter brain chemistry, function and structure and can have devastating effects on the central nervous system.

These things are happening every day, especially to our children and our elderly; the practitioners and advocates of these actions are reaping enormous financial profits.

IN THE NAME OF HELP is one story of how these things can happen in our society, and what two decent people decided to do about these crimes.

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Twilah Hiari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to read this book. I'm an enthusiastic supporter of survivors of psychiatry. I welcomed the perspective of another survivor's voice. I recognized within a few short pages of reading that the writing style of this book epitomizes the concept of overwrought. Clunky adverbs and superfluous adjectives clog up sentences and wear down paragraphs. Descriptions that could be delivered in lines take pages. I tried. I read about 10% of the book and had to give up. It was a stylistic nightmare.