Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen by Suzanne Scanlon

Committed

Subtitle: On Meaning and Madwomen

Author: Suzanne Scanlon

Genre: Memoir

Publish Date: April 2024

Read: February 2025

Favorite Quote: What if, instead of being diagnosed—being called mentally ill—what if I had been able to receive care for its own sake. To be in distress, to ask for care, to receive it. What if there were space in this world for care.

Synopsis: After a suicide attempt landed the author in a state-run mental hospital, she reflects on her time in the facility after thirty years. She muses on what it means to feel untethered, to be diagnosed as mentally ill, and the long history of women being labeled as “mad” when in fact, they may not have been.

Why does this book beguile? I’m always curious to understand the little-known history of mental health - and specifically women’s mental health. As the author candidly describes the death of her mother and her time in a psychiatric facility, she muses on the likes of Sylvia Plath and other women who wrote about their struggles with mental health. The book held my attention for a bit, but I struggled to connect. I felt the author wanted to seem literary and profound.

Rating: 3/5

Link*: Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen by Suzanne Scanlon

If you’re interested in this, read*: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover