Ten Days In a Mad House by Nellie Bly

This isn't the kind of book you read to give you warm fuzzy feelings and sweet dreams. It is actually quite disturbing in places; but it was an expose and she didn't know what she'd find when she got "committed" to the insane asylum. And what she found was shocking.
 Not that I was surprised. 
Institutions like these where no outsiders are allowed to penetrate seem to breed monsters for wardens/ nurses/ doctors. But it was still rather horrifying. The GOOD news is that Nellie Bly,by means of her expose ( being a journalist with connections) was able to raise some $1,000,000 for the improvement of the treatment of the mentally ill.

Interestingly, it was not difficult for Nellie to feign insanity and get committed and very difficult to plead sanity once she was in. In fact, Nellie mentions several women who were "on the inside" and were as sane as she was but who were committed by their cruel family members or couldn't speak English. Sadly, there was no one on the outside to command their release in ten days.

Incredible story.