Uncivil Commitment: A Memoir of My Daughter's Struggle with Bipolar Disorder and the Mental Health System

Author: Thea Amidov EsperanzaPublisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing PlatformPaperback:ISBN 10: 1978489528ISBN 13: 978-1978489523Hearing the door lock behind you is inconceivable. There is no fixed sentence, no deliberation by a jury, yet the locks and barred windows are real. The legal term is “involuntary civil commitment,” yet too frequently there is nothing civil about the psychiatric ward experience. In this memoir, Thea Amidov Esperanza invites the reader along on an unsettling journey following Serafina, her artist daughter, from bipolar diagnosis, drug trials, electric shock treatment, to near-fatal suicide attempt to psych ward. Throughout, Serafina struggles as so many others have, seeking relief from her illness, yet too often finding that the mental health care system provides as many obstacles as pathways to healing. This story is a personal one, sprinkled with pain, humor, and science. Through it, the author seeks to spark debate on the widespread use of involuntary civil commitment and other forms of coercion on psychiatric wards. Using consumer and expert opinion, the author offers readers a rarely heard viewpoint in the field of mental health care. “Esperanza writes affectingly but also with impressive objectivity—the drama unfolds almost like a novel….A reflection on psychiatric care that combines emotional poignancy and intellectual astuteness.”—Kirkus Review Review "A debut author recollects her daughter's torturous battle with mental illness, and the virtues and vices of psychiatric treatment in the United States [in particular involuntary civil commitment]. The perceptive book concludes with a series of short essays on the state of mental health care,though the entire work is permeated by these concerns. Esperanza writes affectingly but also with impressive objectivity--the drama unfolds almost like a novel, but she musters remarkable temperance, especially noticeable when she comments on doctors who were largely antagonistic. "I realize how fraught his [hospital psychiatrist] work was with failures, with negativity, with combat rather than cooperation. And maybe some part of him wanted it to be different." This memoir is both wise and philosophically rigorous, and should be read by anyone curious about the modern treatment of mental illness. A reflection on psychiatric care that combines emotional poignancy and intellectual astuteness."  Kirkus review About the Author Thea Amidov Esperanza is the pen name of an author, mother, and mental health advocate. Esperanza has a master’s degree in social work and a doctorate. Under the name Thea Amidov, she has written for psychcentral.org. Her daughter Serafina has published her own account of her struggle with the court system at MadinAmerica.org.