Madness Made Me: A Memoir - Paperback

by Mary O'Hagan (Author)

'Madness Made Me' won a silver medal in the international Independent Publisher Book Awards 2015. After her journey through madness Mary O'Hagan realized the mental health system and society did more harm than good. 'Madness Made Me' is a myth-busting account of madness and our customary responses to madness through the lens of lived experience. O'Hagan's journey took her from the psychiatric hospital to the United Nations, and many places in between, as a leader in the international mad movement. Her fundamental message is that madness is a profoundly disruptive but full human experience. The trouble is most people don't see it that way, from the experts who make up clever theories about brain disease, to the people down the road who have irrational fears about mad axe-murderers. 'Madness Made Me' is a compelling and beautifully written book that uncovers widespread injustice. It ends with a vision for a world that holds hope for people with mental distress and treats them with respect and humanity.

Author Biography

Mary O'Hagan was a key initiator of the mad movement in New Zealand in the late 1980s, and was the first chairperson of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry between 1991 and 1995. She has been an advisor to the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Mary was a full-time Mental Health Commissioner in New Zealand between 2000 and 2007. Mary is now an international consultant in mental health and developer of PeerZone - peer led workshops in mental health and addiction. She is now embarking on the development of an online recovery platform for people with mental distress.