Bedlam’s Door

(True Tales of Madness and Hope)

Author: Mark Rubinstein, MD

Well, I don’t need to look further than my neighbors for some of these stories, but I still love a good read on mental illness.  I myself suffer from severe depression, and I am always interested in good books that tell it like it is.  Readable, well written with empathy and interest, Bedlam’s Door is written by Mark Rubinstein, a former practicing psychiatrist.  The book reads like fiction; and yet we all know people who fit some of these descriptions, as we all have some kind of madness (I am positive of this!).

From the open door of a psychiatric emergency room to the underground of maximum security prison, Rubenstein movingly describes true events that read like bizarre to aberrant to poignant with characters (real people) who range from empathetic and noble to uncaring and sometimes evil.

What about mental illness scares us so much?  As Rubinstein puts forth example after example of the lives and the challenges that mental illness pinpoints in these lives, he gives an honest and loving depiction of what mental illness causes and how people endure.  This book is wonderful, and I suggest that everyone, whether you are the patient, the parent, the professional or the poser read it to not only demystify but to understand that hope always enters the door along with neuroses.

Having grown children who have a hard time understanding when I cannot be there for them due to a depressive bout, I cannot say enough about informing yourselves to take out the fear and stigmata of mental illness.  It is not a fault.  It is a difficult and often treatable condition like any other.

Kudos to Rubinstein for a delightfully readable and fascinating tome on patients he – and possibly you and I – have known.

Great read.

Ratings are based on a 5-star scale 

Overall: 4

Review by Broad “A” 

We received a product to facilitate our review. All opinions are our own

DETAILS

• You can pick up this book on Amazon.com here: Bedlam’s Door: True Tales of Madness and Hopeor at a bookseller near you.