This compelling memoir is the true account of Issa Ibrahim, detailing in searing prose his development of severe mental illness leading to the accidental killing of his mother, his acquittal by reason of insanity, and his subsequent commission to a mental hospital for nearly 20 years.
Raised in an idyllic creative environment, mom and dad cultivating his talent, Issa watches the family's recreational marijuana use become a full-blown descent into chaos in the drug-crazed late 1980s. Following his father's death, Issa, grief-stricken and vulnerable, develops a marijuana habit. Within two years he is addicted and insane, psychosis prompting his belief that his mother is possessed and he must exorcise her.
Issa receives the insanity plea and is committed to an insane asylum with no release date. But that is only the beginning of his odyssey. Institutional and sexual sins cause further punishments, culminating in a heated legal battle for freedom.
Written with great verve and immediacy, The Hospital Always Wins paints a detailed picture of a broken mental health system, but also reveals the power of art, when nurtured in a benign environment, to provide a resource for recovery. Ultimately this is a story about survival and atonement through creativity and courage against almost insurmountable odds.
