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Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'
Straight Jacket: Overcoming Society's Legacy of Gay Shame by Matthew Todd
2 reviews
davidbythebay's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
I did enjoy this book. There was definitely food for thought that I'll be mulling over for a while now. But there were also some missteps for me. Let me be clear: these aren't flaws, just personal preferences that just didn't work well with me.
There was some good layman's psychology that was explored. Todd admits he isn't a trained professional, but he is knowledgeable and uses sources to back up what he's saying. He also has a great can-do attitude throughout the book, despite talking about a lot of death and addiction. Where Todd shines is at setting a foundation on which to begin addressing our "addictions" - and I put that in quotes for a reason. Todd stresses that we may be addicted to a substance (i.e., drugs or alcohol) or to a process (i.e., eating, dieting, obsessing, falling in love, losing yourself into fantasy, etc.). Todd keeps reminding us that many gay men don't experience an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or sex. And yet, the majority of his examples involve these three. Todd explains how addictions and our behaviors are defense mechanism that we have developed over time to cope with being gay in a heterosexual world. I never once before thought about how feeling worthless and engaging in negative self talk can be an addiction as well as a defense mechanism.
It was filled with a lot of detailed stories that didn't always connect with me and that occasionally felt a bit like overkill in that there were so many highly detailed stories for a single point. Now, each story is unique and each life touched by suicide or death is important and should be told; here, it just felt like a string of emotionally wrenching stories that didn't add any nuance to the issue, just more heartbreak. I do understand why these stories were included, and I appreciate each one and feel for the families involved. I guess I just wanted a bit more exploration beyond the story, which we did get frequently but not with every story.
Overall, I really liked this book. It's about the state of affairs and the realization that we are all in recovery and we all have an addiction or two - caffeine and worrying are two of mine - and how to move past them; but that last bit isn't fully explored and fleshed out which makes me long fro more from this book. Some of these stories could have included how the growth in the aftermath happened or what process was used besides "therapy and a desire for change". Was there maybe some sort of realization or advice for someone following them into recovery from whatever ails us. That's what I was looking for. But, still enjoyable and a great book with a nice bibliography for further readings!
There was some good layman's psychology that was explored. Todd admits he isn't a trained professional, but he is knowledgeable and uses sources to back up what he's saying. He also has a great can-do attitude throughout the book, despite talking about a lot of death and addiction. Where Todd shines is at setting a foundation on which to begin addressing our "addictions" - and I put that in quotes for a reason. Todd stresses that we may be addicted to a substance (i.e., drugs or alcohol) or to a process (i.e., eating, dieting, obsessing, falling in love, losing yourself into fantasy, etc.). Todd keeps reminding us that many gay men don't experience an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or sex. And yet, the majority of his examples involve these three. Todd explains how addictions and our behaviors are defense mechanism that we have developed over time to cope with being gay in a heterosexual world. I never once before thought about how feeling worthless and engaging in negative self talk can be an addiction as well as a defense mechanism.
It was filled with a lot of detailed stories that didn't always connect with me and that occasionally felt a bit like overkill in that there were so many highly detailed stories for a single point. Now, each story is unique and each life touched by suicide or death is important and should be told; here, it just felt like a string of emotionally wrenching stories that didn't add any nuance to the issue, just more heartbreak. I do understand why these stories were included, and I appreciate each one and feel for the families involved. I guess I just wanted a bit more exploration beyond the story, which we did get frequently but not with every story.
Overall, I really liked this book. It's about the state of affairs and the realization that we are all in recovery and we all have an addiction or two - caffeine and worrying are two of mine - and how to move past them; but that last bit isn't fully explored and fleshed out which makes me long fro more from this book. Some of these stories could have included how the growth in the aftermath happened or what process was used besides "therapy and a desire for change". Was there maybe some sort of realization or advice for someone following them into recovery from whatever ails us. That's what I was looking for. But, still enjoyable and a great book with a nice bibliography for further readings!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Homophobia, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Self harm
tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition
informative
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
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