Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World by Elinor Cleghorn

8 reviews

librijess's review against another edition

emotional informative

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Abortion, Classism, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Suicide, Death, Infertility, Eating disorder, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Addiction, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

extraaardvark's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death, Medical content, Sexism, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Misogyny, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Genocide, Blood, Cancer, and Forced institutionalization

chronically_theo's review against another edition

emotional informative sad

3.75

This book was incredibly hard to read. Reading about how people like you have been violated and dismissed never gets easier. It is interesting though if you are in the right headspace 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Xenophobia, Rape, Racism, Misogyny, Ableism, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Classism, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Death, Confinement, Child death, and Cancer

beatriks's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

I listened to the german Audiobook version that is available on Spotify and I loved it. 
The history is of misogyny and discrimination and mistreatment goes beyond what I knew and is far more shocking than I thought. I'm planning to give the book as a present to some women around me. 

Highly recommended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

Minor: Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicide, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

dragnfary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

I think every person  with a uterus should read/listen to this. It's very interesting how historically women have been viewed in the medical field and how that has prohibited medical knowledge.  I also belive that this book would help you know that you aren't alone when the docs don't listen to you, and the importance of advocating for yourself and your health.  

It was very interesting learning how we have gotten to where we are todaymedi

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Classism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Abortion, Medical content, and Slavery

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Violence, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Miscarriage, and Torture

rosalind's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Cancer

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Chronic illness, Grief, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Rape

josephinecatherine's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

5++++ stars. 

I make no attempt to mirror any of the eloquence with which Elinor Cleghorn writes, but I hope I can at least succeed in my effort to convince every person to read this book. 

I have written about this issue, I have debated about this issue, I have listened to this issue, and most importantly - I have lived this issue and this life. 

Cleghorn set herself the task to discuss the history of unwell women in detail, applying knowledge from professional and personal experience. I understand the gravity of this self-assigned challenge of hers and appreciate that other people may find additional ways of strengthening the work, but I welcome anyone to discredit the success that is this book. 

My gratitude to Elinor is something I will bring with me throughout my whole life. This book takes away the burden of having the verbalise my experience, and the experiences so much like mine, to others and to myself. 

The detail, the compassion, the conviction, and the honesty which has been bled into this book is breathtaking. This is a beginning to a conversation, the continuation of a battle cry, and the solace to the loneliness that comes from being an unwell woman.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Ableism, Sexism, Medical trauma, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

allisonwonderlandreads's review

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Unwell Women is a sweeping historical look at how women have suffered as patients at the hands of Western medicine, from ancient Greece to present. Peppered with historical case studies and the author's own heart-wrenching journey to a lupus diagnosis, the voices of women rise up through the narrative to be heard where they are so frequently suppressed.

Cleghorn's dry humor was much appreciated throughout this journey to balance the horrific nature of the trends and stories she shares. I found the ancient history amusing, with the Greek concept of "the wandering womb" especially hilarious. But the lived realities of these experiences are far from funny. Seeing medical knowledge peeled back to reveal the insidious tentacles of patriarchy creeping through everything was somehow both liberating and disheartening. Women have survived some horrible shit, sometimes with no help from doctors, and others in spite of the very medical attention meant to cure their ills.

Of the many topics covered, here are just a few that will stay with me:

 • hysteria, hormones, and the other excuses to dismiss women's pain altogether or root it in psychology
 • abortion, forced sterilization, birth control, eugenics, and all the ways women's reproduction is more valued than her own well-being and decided by the medical apparatus
 • the way medical knowledge has been accrued without female input or consent in so many cases -- I was especially horrified by accounts of research done on enslaved Black American women and the more recent trials of The Pill on Puerto Rican women without knowledge of the risks
 • the lack of knowledge, empathy, and support for women with chronic pain conditions

This is far from a complete history, but I don't think that's feasible for one book, anyway. It's largely focused on the US and UK, but I was relieved that the author addresses race, class, and gender identity as intersectional factors in women's health. I will carry these thoughts into my own experiences as a patient, and I want to learn even more about this topic and advocacy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Abortion, Cancer, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Torture