Popping Pills: “How I said no to abuse and lost…” (Books Go Social 2018) written by Paula Ann Stewart is an informative and very articulate account of the challenges Stewart faced in advocating for improved and more effective mental health care in Montreal, Quebec Canada. Stewart came to the attention of authorities after collapsing on a public street in Montreal (1993), after she was hospitalized, her mental healthcare and treatment was provided at McGill University. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, she has been monitored and medicated against her will by injections ordered by the courts.

This book details Stewart’s 25 year struggle over what she identifies as having a “drug induced disability”. It was necessary for her to speak French to understand the “sea of documentation” regarding her case. Mental health patients are often treated as third class citizens and completely ignored and excluded on provincial and municipal levels regarding their care and treatment. This adds to the social stigma, public judgment and distain for mental health patients and the further isolation they experience when medications and dosages are changed by providers causing odd, strange or abnormal behaviors.

In 2013, after Stewart was forcibly injected, she experienced a large variety of side effects from the psychotropic medications. Before that time, her health had been “strong” she had maintained her health through diet, exercise, deep breathing techniques and yoga. After reporting her adverse symptoms and reactions to the medications her calls were ignored by medical professionals at the University Health Centre. Doctors insisted that the psychotropic medications were to be taken for the rest of her life to avoid dementia; her mother was coerced into signing her admission paperwork for a group home.

In the book, Stewart explains why it is necessary for patients to be treated as equals with improved disability rights. The book is particularly helpful fostering a better understanding of a mental patients narrative and circumstances surrounding care and treatment. Stewart offers suggestions throughout the book that encourage further education and advocacy for individuals and others. ~ 3* GOOD. **With thanks to Books Go Social via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.