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Uncivil Commitment: A Memoir of My Daughter's Struggle with Bipolar Disorder and the Mental Health System
Hearing the door lock behind you is inconceivable. There is no fixed sentence, no deliberation by a jury, yet the locks and barred windows are real. The legal term is “involuntary civil commitment,” yet too frequently there is nothing civil about the psychiatric ward experience.
A debut author recollects her daughter, Serafina’s torturous battle with mental illness, and the virtues and vices of psychiatric treatment in the United States. Serafina went through experiences with medications (aplenty), electric shock treatment (yes, it’s still being administered), a suicide attempt after which she was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward being involuntarily locked on a psych ward (like a prison experience, but less therapeutic). After weeks of trying to find a way out, Serafina went to a special mental health court (a bit of Boston Legal and Perry Mason) to free herself and find treatment that was collaborative and respectful. As It should be. Interspersed with this story are sprinklings about psychiatric medications, f bipolar disorder and withdrawal from meds. There is also a grand debate on the theapeutic value of the locked psychiatric ward.
The focus is personal, but the goal is on the problem of coercion in the field of mental health care. The psychiatric ward is mostly cloaked in secrecy (they don’t give tours). Are they healing or is hospital treatment an oxymoron? Do they still have four limbed tie downs and isolation rooms and firmly locked doors?
Amidov presents the views of consumers of mental healthcare, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, lawyers, and family members to bring out behind the scenes stories on the use of coercion, lockups, toxic doses of meds, trauma, as well as stories of success. She concludes with a series of arguments against the use of uncivil commitment.
Kirkus Review
Esperanza Amidov writes affectingly but also with impressive
objectivity—the drama unfolds almost like a novel, but she musters remarkable temperance, especially noticeable when
she comments on doctors who were largely antagonistic. For example, she is remarkably magnanimous when discussing
the physician who blocked Serafina’s release from the psychiatric “I realize how fraught his work was with failures,
with negativity, with combat rather than cooperation. And maybe some part of him wanted it to be different.” This memoir is both wise and philosophically rigorous, and should be read by anyone curious about the modern treatment of mental illness.
A reflection on psychiatric care that combines emotional poignancy and intellectual astuteness.
A debut author recollects her daughter, Serafina’s torturous battle with mental illness, and the virtues and vices of psychiatric treatment in the United States. Serafina went through experiences with medications (aplenty), electric shock treatment (yes, it’s still being administered), a suicide attempt after which she was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward being involuntarily locked on a psych ward (like a prison experience, but less therapeutic). After weeks of trying to find a way out, Serafina went to a special mental health court (a bit of Boston Legal and Perry Mason) to free herself and find treatment that was collaborative and respectful. As It should be. Interspersed with this story are sprinklings about psychiatric medications, f bipolar disorder and withdrawal from meds. There is also a grand debate on the theapeutic value of the locked psychiatric ward.
The focus is personal, but the goal is on the problem of coercion in the field of mental health care. The psychiatric ward is mostly cloaked in secrecy (they don’t give tours). Are they healing or is hospital treatment an oxymoron? Do they still have four limbed tie downs and isolation rooms and firmly locked doors?
Amidov presents the views of consumers of mental healthcare, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, lawyers, and family members to bring out behind the scenes stories on the use of coercion, lockups, toxic doses of meds, trauma, as well as stories of success. She concludes with a series of arguments against the use of uncivil commitment.
Kirkus Review
Esperanza Amidov writes affectingly but also with impressive
objectivity—the drama unfolds almost like a novel, but she musters remarkable temperance, especially noticeable when
she comments on doctors who were largely antagonistic. For example, she is remarkably magnanimous when discussing
the physician who blocked Serafina’s release from the psychiatric “I realize how fraught his work was with failures,
with negativity, with combat rather than cooperation. And maybe some part of him wanted it to be different.” This memoir is both wise and philosophically rigorous, and should be read by anyone curious about the modern treatment of mental illness.
A reflection on psychiatric care that combines emotional poignancy and intellectual astuteness.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 5, 2018
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July 30, 2019
Just a great book. One of the few books to describe what it’s like to be locked up in a psych ward. Amidov does an excellent job of detailing the history of forced treatment, and exploring the data underlying it’s supposed efficacy. She deftly deconstructs forced treatment laws, revealing how they are more flawed than anyone could have imagined. If you have a loved one who has gone down the dark pathway of forced psych treatment, this is a must read. Amidov also does a great job of describing the struggle of helping a loved one battle depression and suicidality.
Displaying 1 of 1 review