Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin - Softcover

"A worthwhile and surprisingly easy read for anyone interested in mental illness... Few journalists now leave their desks in search of a story. Vincent reminds us that there is a (locked, secret) world beyond our office windows and internet search engines" (Financial Times)

"The writing is tight, funny .... and full of brilliant observations... A fascinating journey. A sex change and now madness - one can't help wondering what she will do next" (Sunday Times)

"The originality of Voluntary Madness lies in the fact that Vincent is reporting from inside the system at its three cardinal levels: a hard-core public institution, a more congenial private equivalent, and an intensively personalised therapeutic realm. As near as is possible in a single account, this presents the full spectrum of psychiatry in operation" (Blake Morrison Guardian)

"Vincent's a skilled, witty and honest observer, particularly of her fellow patients" (The List)

"Her account veers sharply into a dissection of her own mental health problems but she asks pertinent questions about whether locking people up really helps" (Metro)

Bestselling 'immersion' journalist Norah Vincent takes on the mental health system - but when she gets sectioned she discovers that she's not just there to report, she's there to be cured.