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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I couldn't finish this book because there was too much glorifying of mental illness. As someone with mental illness myself, I really couldn't connect with the idea that we should let our anxiety run wild. Yes, anxiety can be helpful to tell us when something is wrong or when something should change. But anxiety doesn't make everyone successful.
Which leads me to my next issue. Sarah Wilson is privileged in that she is successful. And her anxiety helped her get there.
Not all people experience anxiety that way. For some folks it's debilitating. Anxiety makes some people's lives worse not better. It's not something some people want to celebrate.
This isn't to say that some people have grown from their anxiety, but her whole vibe is that we should embrace our anxiety and let it make us successful. She makes it seem like we can all learn to be successful from our anxiety, which just isn't true.
The other thing that upset me, was that within 30 pages of the book she talks about going off her medication without talking about how incredibly dangerous it is. It isn't until later in the book that she talks about only tapering off your medication with doctor supervision. I think it's really dangerous not to mention that right away.
Overall, I really just couldn't get on board with her message. I agree that there can be some beautiful or useful things about anxiety and mental illness, but to just want to focus so much on using it for the positive erases so many folks experiences.
Also, not all of us are privileged enough to be able to talk to the Dali Lama and do yoga with famous people. A lot of people can't even afford therapy. So
braggadocious. 😒
Which leads me to my next issue. Sarah Wilson is privileged in that she is successful. And her anxiety helped her get there.
Not all people experience anxiety that way. For some folks it's debilitating. Anxiety makes some people's lives worse not better. It's not something some people want to celebrate.
This isn't to say that some people have grown from their anxiety, but her whole vibe is that we should embrace our anxiety and let it make us successful. She makes it seem like we can all learn to be successful from our anxiety, which just isn't true.
The other thing that upset me, was that within 30 pages of the book she talks about going off her medication without talking about how incredibly dangerous it is. It isn't until later in the book that she talks about only tapering off your medication with doctor supervision. I think it's really dangerous not to mention that right away.
Overall, I really just couldn't get on board with her message. I agree that there can be some beautiful or useful things about anxiety and mental illness, but to just want to focus so much on using it for the positive erases so many folks experiences.
Also, not all of us are privileged enough to be able to talk to the Dali Lama and do yoga with famous people. A lot of people can't even afford therapy. So
braggadocious. 😒
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Mental illness
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I experience a lot of anxiety and I was hoping this book would be helpful for me. It is always nice to read about someone else going through what you are going through. However, Sarah Wilson's experiences with anxiety are very different from mine, and ultimately the book ended up making me feel more anxious.
Anxiety for me leads me down a slow, depressive path and I like to withdraw. For Wilson though, she spirals and gets more and more active. This shows in the book, as the text tends to be disjointed and jumpy. Her anxious mind spills across the page and can be a bit distressing if you are looking for a calming book to help you cope with your own monster.
There are some wonderful nuggets of helpfulness in this book, but it isn't right for me. For my own well-being I had to stop reading it about halfway through.
Anxiety for me leads me down a slow, depressive path and I like to withdraw. For Wilson though, she spirals and gets more and more active. This shows in the book, as the text tends to be disjointed and jumpy. Her anxious mind spills across the page and can be a bit distressing if you are looking for a calming book to help you cope with your own monster.
There are some wonderful nuggets of helpfulness in this book, but it isn't right for me. For my own well-being I had to stop reading it about halfway through.
emotional
slow-paced
TW fatphobia and disordered eating
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
This was quite refreshing, anxiety through the author's eyes and experiences. Some parts felt a little dragged and went further from the topic, but overall gives quite different perspectives and tips.
May come back to it later but I hadn’t finished by the time it was due back at the library.
The more I think about this, the more I move it down to a 3 - 3.5. There was a little too much "not like other girls" stuff in here. I related to a lot of it on the anxiety front and loved the insight it gave me into bipolar disorder.
All of the "we folks with anxiety..." stuff was a little grating though. I think some of those experiences are just normal life experiences. She talks about her relationships with "life naturals" and I don't know that I've ever met such a person. Sure, there are people that get along much easier, but I think they're a rare breed and probably much more rare than people with at least mild anxiety. People with anxiety are not a monolith. There was a lot of extrapolating "my experience" to "everyone's experience" and then talking about how different and special we are from the normal folks.
I love the title and it's meaning. There were lots of little useful tidbits and Sarah's life is so fascinating. She's really had a remarkable journey.
All of the "we folks with anxiety..." stuff was a little grating though. I think some of those experiences are just normal life experiences. She talks about her relationships with "life naturals" and I don't know that I've ever met such a person. Sure, there are people that get along much easier, but I think they're a rare breed and probably much more rare than people with at least mild anxiety. People with anxiety are not a monolith. There was a lot of extrapolating "my experience" to "everyone's experience" and then talking about how different and special we are from the normal folks.
I love the title and it's meaning. There were lots of little useful tidbits and Sarah's life is so fascinating. She's really had a remarkable journey.