Bedlam is Dr. Kenneth Paul Rosenberg’s account of the failures of the American mental health institution. This text is influenced by his own personal history as well as other individuals affected by this pervasive crisis. He describes the intense struggles with the system through his experience with his sister Merle while also providing personal stories of motivation from other industry professionals. All these many accounts and research into the health crisis integrate a seminal account on the struggle of individuals that live within this system.

The reflections of Dr. Rosenberg’s relationship with his sister’s issues empathizes the reader to his mission. He draws on the personal to create the ubiquitous. Every individual he interviews, whether they are participants or workers, creates a picture of a system with many central issues. It is a haunted house riddled with termites and creaking floorboards where individuals involved are caught in the crosshairs of the many imperfections. They are left out to dry during a sweltering storm, and it’s hurricane season. They have no capacity to survive, let alone thrive, like so many people need to exist in everyday America. Each story captures the essence of a person lost to the fringes of a system in desperate need of repair. Through his examinations and interviews, we see the human consequence of the crisis. Dr. Rosenberg critiques this institution while providing solutions. They are not complete, easy, or one-and-done reactions, but each concept initiates a step-forward to pursuing a world where people on the edges aren’t ignored. The research lay claim to world where human decency and kindness are a move forward. Dr. Rosenberg defines this as something America can’t ignore.

The author presents the gaps with precise intuition to bring a reader into the content. With the personal history of the individuals he interviews, Dr. Rosenberg attaches every person to the reader. Every character invests you into their struggle. They fight and pursue a life while navigating the tough world around them. They are so well-crafted each seems like a character in a two-hour drama. Debbie, lost in her psychosis, brings you through a budding relationship with her attempts at life outside the prison and mental health system. She rises through taking her medication consistently, but eventually she is put back into the criminal system over misdemeanors. She falls, and the reader falls with her. I found myself wishing the reality of the mental health institution wasn’t the way it was because I wanted to see her stand victorious in a world positioned against her success. In some cases, I find myself cheering for individuals that have found triumph within the system. Dr. Rosenberg speaks about Professor Elyn Saks as she navigates through this crisis. Success found in a failing institution helps her achieve her goals, and to become an outlier to this very institution. Her success gives me hope that specific practices Dr. Rosenberg suggests will have a positive impact. Much of his cases are not the same.

The author provides us with a real perspective that has no happy endings. There are moves forward, ways individuals can manage the crisis with mentally ill people, to help them achieve the best lives they can despite the mental health system. He presents an intense account of the failures, but he asks for optimism. The end of the book is a list of methods and practices to provide practical advice to individuals inside this world. With the amount of people that fall in this crisis, these techniques are good for everyone to know. There is no happy ending, the book is too honest for that. Dr. Rosenberg leaves us with a chance for change. The system is flawed, but the people in it can find their way through. Individual action becomes the way forward to save those that will be left out. Bedlam reaches optimism through its realism, so we can all try to find our happy ending.