Watertown Author Seeks Help Publishing Her Book on Being in a Psychiatric Ward

Watertown’s Caitlin Basile is raising money to get her book about her experience in psychiatric hospital published.

For years, Catilin Basile has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals, but she found that the best therapy was writing about her experiences. Now she is raising money to get her memoir professionally edited and published.

The 30-year-old Watertown resident has spent the last decade in and out of hospital, emergency rooms and therapy. It got so bad that she was told by McLean Hospital that she was not welcome because she was labeled “unable to be treated.”

Her journaling, however, has helped her stay out of hospital for the longest spell in years – nine month.

“I have difficulty talking to and trusting people, but I could put it in my notebook,” Basile said. “It is a way of keeping out of the hospital and not self-harming or being self-destructive.”

The book, titled “This Sad Hotel,” chronicles some of her experiences in hospital and therapy, some of which not even friends and family have heard.

“A lot of people I know don’t know about what I have gone through,” Basile said. “It is not something you talk about sitting around the dinner table.”

She hopes it will raise awareness and help others going through the same thing.

“It is easy to get stuck in the system,” Basile said. “… I want to tell my story, help people relate, learn and understand.”

The Watertown resident started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $3,500 she needs to hire a professional editor. She has gotten in touch with a professional editor, but needs money to have her entire manuscript edited.

She has already received support from people, but she needs to reach the total by the morning of Feb. 8 or else she will not receive the money pledged.

“People of Watertown have been amazingly supportive,” Basile said. “People I don’t even know have reached out to me and helped.”

The Kickstarter campaign for “This Sad Hotel” can be found by clicking here. Read a sample of her writing by going here and find out more about Basile at www.caitlinbasile.com.