I have a soft spot in my heart for anything insane asylum related. Perhaps it's because I've been there.

Probably.

Asylum themed movies, books, music, whatever. I need it. I need it to be mine. I think this is why I have such a fascination with Emilie Autumn. Granted, I liked her prior to her own asylum days, back when it was "Opheliac" and "Liar" and "Marry Me" (all which coincidentally found their way into her asylum days); back when she wasn't all about "The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls."

I recently snagged a copy of "Ten Days In A Madhouse" by Nellie Bly, and a copy of "The Hospital" by Barbara O'Hare. Why? Because I just had to. They called to some deep, dark, suppressed part of me that I secretly yearn to release. How very 47 of me.

I also found an audiobook copy of "A Madness So Discreet" by Mindy McGinnis, and naturally I have fallen in love with it. I'm only half way through and this is everything I've needed in an asylum story. A girl, wrongly admitted to the institution, to cover up disgusting secrets. A doctor who sees her for who she is - which is not crazy - and talks of her mental health state in passing, as if it is completely normal to be touched with a bit of insanity without actually being insane. Girls who find comfort in the asylum's embrace, not wanting to leave and live a "normal" life.

Hold up. Is this my biography?

Anyhow, I'm falling in love with this doctor character, because of how he treats his patients. He gives them the respect the deserve, treats them as actual people, and understands that sometimes the best medicine to give a patient is to just humor their insane requests. It doesn't have to make sense to normal people, if it does the trick and brings a bit of peace to the the patient, then so be it. He talks about mental health and treatments in passing, as if they are nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be disgusted by, and completely normal. Isn't that how we should be treating it? Isn't there a spectrum of mental health we all fall on, some needing more assistance than others, but not making us less human? Light grey and dark grey are on two opposite ends, yet they are both still grey.

I know, I expect more decency out of humans than I should, and often find myself utterly disappointed. But that is my own fault, and perhaps my own insanity, considering the color of people's skin still leads some to believe that certain people should be treated less than human. I'm not surprised mental health is still taboo; humans are disappointing.

I digress.