State of Mind

At a State facility, where a resident was constantly banging his head, the psychologist used cigars as a reward for the person, he called "Junior" to extinguish this behavior. The resident was called into the room and the psychologist, handing him a cigar, said, "Say hello to the people, junior." And he replied "Hello the people, junior."

A resident, on a field trip to major league ballpark, asked for permission to go to the bathroom. Granting such request, the man unzipped his pants and urinated on the concrete stairs.

Examples such as these permeate this retrospective account of treating mentally ill patients in a public State mental hospital. Told through captivating examples, where, for example, staff feared they had an undercover reporter admitted as a patient, (you'll have to read the book to find out what happened), the author provides real scores of interesting episodes pertaining to caring for the mentally ill.

The events took place during a period of time when mental health treatment lacked reliable interventions resulting in humorous, and sometimes, tragic consequences. Those interested in mental health and mental illness, who enjoy reading memoirs and who are devotees of psychiatry and psychology will be captivated by the events reported here.