ABANDONED. A woman or journalist in either the 90s or 00s goes into a mental health facility and documents her stay. I think she does it undercover/as an experiment

[Shannon]

I think the cover of the book was a woman on a bed in a hospital style cubicle writing

[SamSpayedPI]

Is it fiction? When did you read it?

[Aerulan]

Was it in the vein of "I'll show people what it's like" with the intent of clearing up misconceptions, or more of a Nellie Bly, where she's trying to expose serious abuse in the system kind of thing?

[Courtney]

Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin

[Kelsey]

Girl, Interrupted

This is a memoir about a young woman who is perfectly sane but is misdiagnosed by a therapist or psychiatrist and spend time in the mental hospital.

SPOILERS potentially in description:





Characters include a girl with an eating disorder who will only eat an entire roasted chicken that her visitors bring her, and a girl that set herself on fire in a suicide attempt. A famous quote from the book is "Crazy isn't being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It's you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it. If you ever wished you could be a child forever.”

[Kris]

No response, moving to Abandoned folder.

Shannon (OP) was last active on the site in September 2019.