Quarantine of The Mind: Obedience Training for Adult Humans

A searing personal account of life inside a mental institution and a powerful critique of the mental health system.

Quarantine of The Mind offers a rare glimpse into the world of forensic mental health, as experienced by W. Strawn Douglas, a patient committed to the Minnesota Security Hospital for nearly three decades. Through essays written during different periods of his institutionalization, Douglas exposes the often-dehumanizing hoops that the mentally ill must jump through in hopes of regaining their freedom. He challenges the oxymoron of “forced care” and questions the traditions of abuse that persist within the system.

This unflinching narrative is for anyone seeking to understand:

• The realities of institutional life for the mentally ill
• The challenges of navigating the forensic mental health system
• The importance of advocating for civil rights and humane treatment

William Strawn Douglas currently resides at the Minnesota Security Hospital, Saint Peter, Minnesota, where he was committed under a diagnosis of being Mentally Ill and Dangerous in 1993. That was the aftermath of an incident where he stabbed a young woman in the leg during a schizophrenic episode, thinking he could use the “incident” as a way to draw “the law’s” attention to drug distribution activities he objected to.

Larry Etkin is a veteran communications professional who has worked more than four decades as a writer, editor, publication designer, and public relations consultant and media planner. He has designed and edited more than 100 books and scientific research monographs, including the cover graphic for this volume.