Baker Acted!: Three Days in a Madhouse by April Showers and Michael T. Sylvester

Book excerpt: Baker Acted! Three Days in a Madhouse By: April Showers Baker Acted! Three Days in a Madhouse is a true story about the Florida mental health system. When April Showers stops by Ivy Green to retrieve a copy of her psychosocial report that had been assessed a few days prior, she is wrongfully Baker Acted and committed to the hospital for three days. During those tumultuous three days of frustration, no one on staff takes the time to understand her feelings, and what’s worse, inside she meets others who are similar situations. A poignant statement on the sorry state of mental health services in the United States, as you read Baker Acted! Three Days in a Madhouse, you can imagine the hopelessness, the desperation, and the despair that a place like Ivy Green brings to its patients. See the world through April’s eyes and receive a first-hand account of what it’s like to be prisoner in a madhouse.