Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

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

115 reviews

eliya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

heartbreakingly raw and hard to listen to at points. stephanie foo shares some truly horrifying memories.

fascinating approaches to CPTSD

• some approaches i’m familiar with, some i’ve only day-dreamed about haha. 
• would love to approach conversation in a Nathan Fielder’s “the rehearsal” way lol. gave me some sold things to bring to my therapist when i have one. made me reconsider the way i interact in conversations. 

very informative, kept coming back to the body and physiological responses to trauma, as the title suggests.

• lots of information regarding generational trauma and how it effects people of color. 
• i was particularly intrigued by the
  rat study about generational trauma

cringy / cheesy at some points, as is the nature with healing books. some eyeroll moments where the author acknowledges very briefly but very obviously obligatorily her class privileges to be able to access this type of care. ultimately helpful for me as a reader, though, to see what type of healing is possible (?) even though it definitely feels out of reach rn. 

truly moving and hopeful.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Sexism, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nat_e_13's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Life changing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

hades_hotline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

this book broke me apart and pieced me back together. it is so raw and so full of anguish and yet at the same time it’s hopeful in the most beautiful way.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm and War

baileeliz_'s review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

i don’t rate memoirs typically so i won’t give a star rating, but this is possibly the most important book i’ve read on CPTSD and highly encourage anyone who has this diagnosis to read it if they are able. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Pandemic/Epidemic

marta_gaspar's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and War

katiegraham00's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

layley's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

rubellaface's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Quick caveat: I do not have C-PTSD. I am a second-generation Filipino American who grew up to have high-functioning anxiety & depression due to tiger parenting, growing up Asian American, and being forced to become an alpha daughter. 

Reading this book triggered me and had me questioning my reality and how I’ve often laughed-off or disassociated my personal trauma in order to succeed in life (and therefore be perceived as being okay). Her coping mechanisms were/are my coping mechanisms, and funnily enough, I didn’t even realize they were coping mechanisms. So as Stephanie went down the rabbit hole of finding out what her bones know and how to fix it, I was right beside her– transfixed and checking my own bones for fissures and trauma from similar situations in my family life. 

Cause Stephanie Foo does not pull her punches when recounting her childhood. Every abusive situation is described in a way that is almost clinical and ripe for analyzing. Her book is basically an emotional autopsy of her trauma, and the way she uses her journalism background to thoroughly vet every single c-ptsd-related therapy is both thrilling and heartbreaking. As a reader, you want Stephanie to find a therapy that works for her and that can “cure” her, and I just wanted to hug her each time a practice or therapist failed her. 

Needless to say, I was emotionally invested in Stephanie’s book. I cried towards the end as she found stable ground and the tools to fight for her peace of mind. And I cried again at the similarities in how we approached our weddings and wedding guests. Her healing journey echoed and reaffirmed my own, and I will recommend this book to all my AAPI friends who I know have gone through sh*t and are trying their best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Very triggering. Sometimes in a good way.

kenrya's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

alexijai98's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment