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tashaseegmiller's review against another edition
5.0
I have never read a book that so brilliantly captured exactly what I experience with depression. And shared insights to help me see the reality of this disease. Maybe it validated me a bit. If you have depression, if you love someone with depression, read this book. It will help all involved understand.
yayarose's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
I found some of the experiences slightly outdated as mental health treatment has grown a lot from the 70s/80s, but was still able to find certain parts of this book to be very relatable. It was also very interesting to see a side of depression different from my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Infidelity, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
There is no mention of this as the book was published in 2008, but upon further research I found the author ended up committing suicide in 2016. This made the book go from inspiring to shocking. I was saddened to see the author had lost her life to this illness, and this made me really reflect on my own illness and how I am handling it.meganelizbaker's review against another edition
4.0
Really good book and helped me see that lots of people young, old, rich and poor suffer from depression.
Sad to say though that after I finished reading I read into the Author and she committed suicide a few years ago. Extremely sad definitely as I finished the book on a positive as she started to get back on track. Goes to show that it can always come back to haunt you.
Sad to say though that after I finished reading I read into the Author and she committed suicide a few years ago. Extremely sad definitely as I finished the book on a positive as she started to get back on track. Goes to show that it can always come back to haunt you.
anji444's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book hard to get into with the first two chapters but the writing got more personal and detailed from chapter three and I was hooked.
I did know the fate of the author before starting this book so it was hard reading about her coping methods at the end of the book knowing that she eventually came to take her own life.
I could relate to a lot of things she discovered about herself and her family from engaging with a good therapist. It was interesting to also learn about her diagnosis of hypothyroidism which includes depression, lack of interest and difficulty concentrating as symptoms.
I did know the fate of the author before starting this book so it was hard reading about her coping methods at the end of the book knowing that she eventually came to take her own life.
I could relate to a lot of things she discovered about herself and her family from engaging with a good therapist. It was interesting to also learn about her diagnosis of hypothyroidism which includes depression, lack of interest and difficulty concentrating as symptoms.
bron2042's review against another edition
4.0
Hard to read but only because of its honesty and rawness and perhaps because Ms Brampton could articulate how I have sometimes felt far better than I ever could. This book was definitely not a Saturday afternoon read. It took me a long time to get through and I felt I needed time to digest chapters or sections or even paragraphs. My thanks to Sally Brampton for this outstanding work.
carolynaugustyn's review against another edition
3.0
The story Sally Brampton tells is so familiar and real, especially to me. I related so strongly to some of Brampton's journeys through major depression and really appreciated her honesty and candor with sharing the messiest and most upsetting aspects of the illness. And there was a sense of humor throughout her story, which really wasn't surprising- most of the funniest people I know suffer from some form of mental illness. My only issue with this book (and why I didn't rate this higher) was that the writing style didn't really grab me- it was a little scattered and rambling in parts. So the story itself is 4 stars and really a good and honest story but this just wasn't the writing style for me. Definitely a good read for a look into major depression, alcoholism, and mental health treatment though.
marthabohlale's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0