In My Experiences in a Lunatic Asylum, author Herman Merivale recounts his harrowing time in an English countryside asylum during the 1860s. Dubbed a sane patient, Merivale shares his unsettling journey through a system rife with caricatures of the mentally disturbed, where both prisoners and wardens exhibit alarming behaviors. He encounters a mix of lofty psychology experts—some genuinely concerned, others woefully clueless—while nurses vacillate between withholding and over-dispensing medications. The wardens, employing brutal tactics to enforce compliance, reveal the cruelty of an era when confinement often resembled a living nightmare. Merivale poignantly illustrates the dire conditions faced by individuals suffering from even mild mental health issues, showing how the unfortunate could be committed at the whim of family with deep pockets. As he reflects on this dark chapter in British history, he calls for a reevaluation of a system marked by inhumanity and neglect. (Summary by Lily Gross)