Protest Psychosis

I found this book to be a fascinating and engaging read. Metzl did a great job interweaving archival sources, interviews and a historical timeline for schizophrenia. I particularly liked the way he wrote the book in such an engaging way that allowed the reader to absorb these complex ideas and want to continue reading.

I have always found histories of institutions to be interesting (probably stemming from too many ghost stories as a child). In a middle school english class we read "The Yellow Wallpaper", a short story about a woman who goes insane upon being confined to bedrest, and whenever this topic pops up in a class I am reminded of this story.

I thought that Metzl's focus on the changing definition and association of schizophrenia through the 20th century was very interesting. Extending his study to the wider context to such events as the Civil Rights movement was very educating for me because I had not been previously so well exposed to the history of schizophrenia.