Unseen

Description

The story of a woman who endured the unimaginable – and recovered.

From a childhood shaped by neglect and violence to three brutal years spent in a cold, indifferent convent, Breda O’Toole’s early life was marked by abandonment. When she sought help, she entered a mental health system that continued the pattern — misdiagnosing her, medicating her into silence, binding her in a straitjacket for 11 days and subjecting her to 29 rounds of electroconvulsive therapy. Across decades, Breda was treated not as a person, but as a problem to be managed — her pain unseen, her voice unheard.

Yet Unseen is also a story of fierce resilience. Refusing to be defined by the failures of the system, Breda fought to reclaim her health, her voice and her life. Through courage, determination and a relentless search for dignity, she uncovered a sense of self that had long been buried.

Blending deeply personal narrative with a forensic study of 23 years of psychiatric records, Breda exposes the devastating consequences of a system that too often loses sight of the human being at its heart.

Breda O’Toole is a music teacher, a mother of eight, three of whom died as babies, and a grandmother to twelve. She lives in Connemara, County Galway.

Dr Tony Bates is a clinical psychologist with more than 30 years’ experience. He is the Founding Director and CEO of Headstrong, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health. Prior to that, he was the Principal Clinical Psychologist at St James’s Hospital, Dublin, and lectured on psychiatry and psychology in Trinity College, Dublin, and University College Dublin. He writes regular articles for the Irish Times on the issue of mental health and frequently appears on radio and television to discuss mental health, depression and suicide.