This Book Will Change Your Mind About Mental Health: A Journey Into the Heartland of Psychiatry by Nathan Filer
'What needs fixing, may not reside within you at all.' Nathan Filer's book, "This Book Will Change Your Mind About Mental Health," provides a poignant and sobering account of the systemic brutality of the mental health system, contrasted by the kindness and sincere efforts of individuals working within it. The book is a collection of stories from survivors of the mental health system, shedding light on the perplexing paradox of how the sincere efforts of individuals working within a system can culminate into a system that obliterates personal autonomy. While the book does an excellent job of explaining the how, it neglects to explore the why. Why does the mental health system fail so many people? Why is knowledge about mental illness so misinformed and ignorant? These are critical questions that need to be addressed to truly understand the depth of the problem. Graham Thornicroft, a professor of community psychiatry at King's College London, asserts that popul...