Will Hall’s Madness Radio has long been for many a refuge and an oasis from the overblown claims and corporate interests of American psychiatry and Big Pharma. This collection of interviews and writings—bold, fearless, and compellingly readable—captures Madness Radio’s importance and fierce independence, urging us to think differently and anew about the “thought disorders” involved in illness and wellness, sanity and recovery.
Required reading. — Christopher Lane, author of
Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness

 This is a brilliant book… Nicely written, and wonderfully grand and big-hearted in its exploration of the world of mental health and much more. Remarkable in scope, Outside Mental Health delves into autobiography, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and spirituality. Will Hall elevates the radio interview format into an art. — Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of An Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs,
and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America

 An intelligent, thought-provoking, and rare concept…These are voices worth listening to.— Mary O’Hara, The Guardian newspaper columnist,
and author of Austerity Bites: A Journey to the Sharp End of Cuts in the UK

 Will Hall’s gentle wisdom shines through in this diverse collection of intimate interviews. Outside Mental Health adds to our collective understanding of the complexity of human suffering, and offers new opportunities for compassion and healing. — Yana Jacobs, LMFT, former Chief of Adult Mental Health Services, Santa Cruz County, California, and current Chief Development Officer, Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care

 Thank you so much for all the love and energy that went into bringing the book together. I’m half way through, savoring every story, and finding parts of myself I lost and let go of. It’s a beautiful work of love and kindness.
–– Reader from CA

 A terrific conversation partner.— Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln’s Melancholy:
How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness

 It is an exhilarating challenge and a great pleasure to be interviewed by Will Hall – a widely knowledgeable and widely explorative interviewer.— Maxine Sheets-Johnstone PhD, author of
Phenomenology of Dance, University of Oregon Department of Philosophy

 Outside Mental Health is a must-read, not only for those in the mental health field, family members, and those who experience extreme or altered states, but for anyone interested in creating a more just and compassionate world. Hall’s lyric, authentic voice, woven throughout, speaks powerfully to the dominant narrative about mental illness, and provides hope for transformational change in our approach to emotional distress.— Alison Hillman, Open Society Foundation Human Rights Initiative, past Program Director for Disability Rights International, and 2011 appointee to the Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

 There are few books that I come across that make me want to drop everything I am doing and immediately read it on the spot. Outside Mental Health is one such book. Will Hall has given us a real gift: this book offers us a new, helpful, liberating—and dare I say, sane—way of re- envisioning our ideas of both the nature of mental health and mental illness in a world gone mad. Truly an inspired, and inspiring, work.— Paul Levy, author of
Dispelling Wetiko: Breaking the Curse of Evil
and Director of the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center, Portland Oregon

 This extraordinary book will make a difference for therapists and “patients” alike. Interviews and essays acknowledge the overuse of medication and hospitalization, but don’t demonize these treatments… Outside Mental Health reads with fierce emotional intensity: journeys shaped by forced treatments, homelessness, and soul-crushing family conflicts, as well as extraordinary triumphs, creativity, and originality.— Stanley Siegel, author,
The Patient Who Cured His Therapist and Other Tales Of Therapy

 Phenomenal… a tome of treasures, filled with great findings for all kinds of seekers. And it begins with Will Hall’s story, bravely and lovingly told. When I discovered Will’s work after a crisis in my own family, the madness began to make sense. Now in this outstanding book he has brought together a rich trove of fascinating interviews with survivors, philosophers, researchers, artists, psychiatrists, journalists and scientists, all of whom illuminate the darkness and plot innovative strategies for survival and recovery.— Susan McKeown, Grammy award winning singer-songwriter

 Outside Mental Health explores the lived experience of extreme states and psychiatric treatments with openness and curiosity. Will Hall brings lessons learned from his own altered states and work as a therapist to offer fresh perspectives on madness and how to respond to it.— Arnold Mindell PhD, Jungian therapist, founder of Process Oriented Psychology,
and author of Processmind: A User’s Guide to Connecting with the Mind of God

The biggest question facing mental health care is: who should be in control and who should make the decisions? Who should say what mental crises are, what treatment should be, and what recovery means? I am truly honored to recommend this book. Will Hall has done an extraordinary job bringing together a wide-ranging and diverse collection, all united by a concern with empowerment. These voices challenge current orthodoxy and constitute a fantastic resource for those who are seeking change.— Dr. Pat Bracken MD, psychiatrist, philosopher, and
Clinical Director of Mental Health Service, West Cork, Ireland

 Clarity, grace, insight, compassion and most of all wisdom: these are the qualities that you will find in these powerful interviews and writings assembled by long time mental health advocate Will Hall. The lessons that spring forth from these interviews are innumerable but one recurs time and again: without true choice, in other words without freedom, there can be no health, healing and recovery.— Gabriella Coleman
,
Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy at McGill University
and author, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy