In-Patient: A Psych Ward Story (The Offbeat Life Of Ren Anonymous)

How does a person know if they’re sane? Ren isn’t sure. She’s just about to turn fifteen. Adulthood is coming and she doesn’t plan to live that long. She needs a break from reality so she checks herself into The Coldwater House for Adolescents at Claymore Psychiatric Hospital in August of 1993. The Coldwater House holds a diverse group of kids from ages nine to seventeen with various mental illnesses. They bond together to heal from the stress at home and inside the system. Ren learns more about music, art, poetry, gender, sexuality, mental illness, addictions, and the corrupt ways of society, along with basic coping skills to prevent relapse and suicidal behavior. Ren is a queer poet who dreams of being a rapper and her time inside the psych ward helps to shape the person she will become.

Although it is fiction, this book is based on a true story from the author’s experience and it paints a picture of why mental health treatment is still an important issue to this day.