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The Episode: A True Story of Loss, Madness and Healing
'A it hits you right in the heart' Katriona O'Sullivan, author of Poor
It could happen to anyone.
One fine April day, Mary Ann Kenny’s husband died suddenly while jogging near their family home. In the months that followed, Mary Ann – who had no history of mental illness – began suffering from depression, and then from a terrifying succession of physical and psychological symptoms, including the delusion that her young children had been harmed by her medications.
In this gripping memoir, Mary Ann details her descent into psychosis, her hopitalization, and her inspiring journey back to health and happiness. Drawing on her detailed medical files and on her own recollections, she has created a day-by-day account of what it is like to lose touch with reality while dealing with grief and living in the dreadful knowledge that everything you care about in life is under threat. And The Episode tells the inspiring story of how Mary Ann recovered from her illness, came to terms with her trauma, and spoke truth to the health service about the limitations of medical psychiatry. It reminds us that anyone could end up in Mary Ann’s situation, while also showing that recovery and happiness are possible even after severe mental illness.
Written with the pace of a thriller and the insight of a great psychological novel, The Episode is a brilliant act of personal reclamation and an essential read for anyone who is interested in the workings of the mind.
'A deeply moving, often terrifying account of grief, illness, and recovery, this vivid memoir carries the reader so close to its unfolding events that it quickens the breath.' Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat
''The Episode is a deeply insightful, clear-sighted and immersive account of grief and psychosis. It would be harrowing if not so beautifully written. I've never read anything quite like it.' Patrick Freyne, author of OK, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea
It could happen to anyone.
One fine April day, Mary Ann Kenny’s husband died suddenly while jogging near their family home. In the months that followed, Mary Ann – who had no history of mental illness – began suffering from depression, and then from a terrifying succession of physical and psychological symptoms, including the delusion that her young children had been harmed by her medications.
In this gripping memoir, Mary Ann details her descent into psychosis, her hopitalization, and her inspiring journey back to health and happiness. Drawing on her detailed medical files and on her own recollections, she has created a day-by-day account of what it is like to lose touch with reality while dealing with grief and living in the dreadful knowledge that everything you care about in life is under threat. And The Episode tells the inspiring story of how Mary Ann recovered from her illness, came to terms with her trauma, and spoke truth to the health service about the limitations of medical psychiatry. It reminds us that anyone could end up in Mary Ann’s situation, while also showing that recovery and happiness are possible even after severe mental illness.
Written with the pace of a thriller and the insight of a great psychological novel, The Episode is a brilliant act of personal reclamation and an essential read for anyone who is interested in the workings of the mind.
'A deeply moving, often terrifying account of grief, illness, and recovery, this vivid memoir carries the reader so close to its unfolding events that it quickens the breath.' Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat
''The Episode is a deeply insightful, clear-sighted and immersive account of grief and psychosis. It would be harrowing if not so beautifully written. I've never read anything quite like it.' Patrick Freyne, author of OK, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea
288 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 7, 2026
Pieced together from medical notes and vague memories Mary Ann takes us through her horrifying experience of psychiatric care in the Irish health service as she struggled with depression and psychosis as a result of the trauma of her husband's sudden death. This is a powerful read reminding us that it could happen to anyone. A truly heartbreaking read!
May 22, 2025
Listened via audio and Mary read this herself. Very well written and a good insight into how poor our mental health services are in Ireland.
June 5, 2025
A brave and highly relatable account (to those of us who have experienced inpatient psychiatric care in Ireland) of severe mental illness and recovery.
February 11, 2026
An extraordinary autobiographical account of the author's experience of psychotic depression and her recovery, focusing on the weird hostility with which she was treated by the Irish health service. Her experience was all chillingly familiar to me as my wife also had a breakdown with psychotic depression that ended in her suicide. I was looking on from the outside then, so it was very helpful for me to have the illness described so vividly by the sufferer. It's a painful read in which Kenny really strips herself bare and tells everything. I'm so glad to have read it, and to know that she made it through to the other side.
February 14, 2026
I was so deeply heartbroken when I read the beginning of this book… and it just kept getting sadder and more frustrating as the story went on. I wanted to scream at the healthcare system… this is a story that had a happy ending but could have easily gone the opposite way. It’s so frustrating that the system doesn’t seem to help in the way that it should. I cannot imagine what is left for people with no family support nor enough money…
September 23, 2025
Good read
July 5, 2025
As a psychotherapist, this was a maddening read at times. Her story is one of bravery and resilience. The mental health services that treated her need to learn from this.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews