Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

246 reviews

crystalisreading's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Transformative book,  for both the author,  and any reader open to what she is telling us. Highly likely to be triggering to anyone with cptsd. I had to set it down and take a break multiple  times. But I also learned so much,  about myself and about others.  the audio version is well-done too. Foo works in radio and podcasts, and you can tell.  Hugest recommendation! just please check content warnings first.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advance copy of #WhatMyBonesKnow by Stephanie Foo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War

nosmallthing's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

fretfulforrest's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

I was really looking forward to this book because I want to learn more about how C-PTSD works and how to cope with it. I only rated this book 3 stars because I skipped and skimmed through at least the first half. Many pages detailed stories of the author's childhood abuse and I did not have the capacity to read through that without taking on the feelings of pain and despair. 

In the later chapters Foo shows us what it was like to finally find someone who listens. To search the world for knowledge and information and land in a stranger's office that would soon become a conduit for healing and change in her life, mind, and body. 

The presented research and findings in this book were informative, but that information was not new to me. What was most valuable to me were the details of recorded therapy sessions and learning to reconnect. With other people and with ourselves. Instead of avoiding through dissociation or exclusive self-regulation. This book offers examples of how our own feelings of shame and desperate cravings for love can be transformed into healing through curiosity and exploration.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma

thatmellokid's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment

alysereadsbooks's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

One of my favorite books of this year. This book is such a raw, vulnerable, and beautiful examination of mental health and trauma.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Grief, and Toxic friendship

goldfinches's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Abandonment

Minor: Racism

mriese's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Mental illness

katikins's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. Stephanie’s journey towards healing and self-realization was so incredible and inspiring. As someone who has also been diagnosed with cptsd it was like hearing a big sister give the road map. Of course it deals with really heavy topics, but so does life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism and Pandemic/Epidemic

ktdaugherty's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

vk124's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

2.75

I struggled to complete this, largely due to the subject matter. I found Foo's experiences to be deeply difficult.  Like Foo, I had heard research on what happens to those who inherit trauma or experience long-term trauma, with regard to higher chances for disease and shortened life. It all felt bleak and dismal. The most hope comes in the later chapters. Here, paths to healing are listed. Additionally, Foo describes her reactions to the Covid pandémica, for which her CPTSD left her highly equipped. I felt some relief to know it wasn't all doom and gloom.

If you do not care for strong language, this may not be the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug use and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Mental illness, Kidnapping, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic