A review by crywithclaire
Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill by Robert Whitaker

4.0

The premise of this book was excellent. Whitaker seamlessly weaves together both primary and secondary sources, forming a clear narrative and reaching a disturbing conclusion that paints a harrowing picture of mental health treatment in the United States. I would probably give it 5 stars if not for the fact that Whitaker relies on a lot of medical jargon which causes the book to be dry at times. Also, I spilled wine on it (it’s a dreary book, who can blame me?) by mistake and then the whole book smelled like wine the rest of the time I read it which got a bit annoying. In conclusion, definitely not a bad choice for my first foray into nonfiction after college, and very impressive that I found it interesting despite writing a term paper on a similar topic last year and finding the topic to be absolutely agonizing. Highly recommend to anyone interested in medical history, specifically the history of insanity and mental health treatment.