[1] Claudia Pitts of National Louis University wrote that the book was "one of the earliest works of the second wave feminist movement to address issues such as the mistreatment of women, particularly in rape and incest; female role models; and spirituality in mental health services.
"[2] Miriam Greenspan of the Los Angeles Review of Books described it as "a cultural watershed exposing how male-dominated psychiatry damages women.
"[5] Adrienne Rich, in an article in The New York Times, concluded that Women and Madness "is a pioneer contribution to the feminization of psychiatric thinking and practice.
[1] Roland Jaccard of Le Monde wrote that "like any important book, Women and Madness has the immense merit of 'troubling the world's sleep.
'"[6] Salvatore R. Maddi wrote in The Saturday Review that it is "an extremely important book, a signal that the women's liberation movement is coming of age.