Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us by Rachel Aviv

22 reviews

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Eating disorder

Moderate: Body shaming, Addiction, and Ableism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Self harm, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, and Alcoholism

flijn's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

I'm in awe of this book. In exploring the lives and stories of people with mental illness, the author creates a radically humanizing perspective on the people she describes and through them, on others who suffer in similar ways and the people in their orbit. This humanization is the result of the sensitivity in the writing towards the shifting perspectives that are present in every narrative. They defy easy categirisation and judgment, and challenge you to reflect on the way the individual, the social environment, and the wider societal context interact. I love how the personal approach shows the complexity of modern life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Eating disorder and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Racism

teerah's review

informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

kellyofcali's review

2.25

While I found a lot of the content interesting, I found myself confused about the purpose of this book, beyond a strange sense of fear and awe about what the mind can go through. The author seemed to send mixed messages about treatment and medication. I preferred her personal anecdotes to her philosophizing, and in the end came away a bit unsatisfied.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Chronic illness

Moderate: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Death

Minor: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Medical content

mmccombs's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

At first I wasn’t convinced about this book, it seemed that exploring this topic by 4ish case studies was not enough and that it would be difficult to bridge them together. I couldn’t really get into Ray’s story at the start, but once I hit Bapu’s chapter I was immediately hooked. The journalism here is so well done, well researched and done with an immense amount of compassion for the complexity of these people’s stories. Aviv never claims a “right” way to approach mental illness while also critiquing the way western medicine/psychology has pathologized the human experience. I also enjoyed the balance of her own personal experience with mental illness, it brought a depth to the text that bridged the stories towards a thematically grounded conclusion. I think this is a book that could just keep going, there is so much to take from this piece.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Self harm

erint's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

A really excellent book. I appreciated how much time Aviv spent on each story, and the compassionate lens she brings to the subject. I really appreciated her focus on the way that the categorization and diagnosis of mental illness can impact how individuals experience it. I also appreciated the diverse lens and the focus on the impacts of social, cultural, and economic factors like poverty and racism impact both the development and experience of mental illness and the level of understanding and care that people receive. I also appreciated the sensitivity and care with which she discussed the idea of "recovery."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Racism, Eating disorder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Self harm, Child death, Mental illness, and Chronic illness

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

toephia's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Addiction, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Mental illness

2or3godzillas's review

challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment

lowbrowhighart's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Grief, Sexism, Confinement, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Fatphobia, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child death, Death, Body shaming, Medical content, and Pregnancy

flowergrrl's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

Aviv is among my favorite nonfiction writers, and her first full-length book reminded me why. The depth of her journalism and the thoughtfulness of her cultural commentary are unmatched. I did find myself wanting more of her own opinion, or perhaps more background on the political contexts surrounding madness. But Aviv stays in her lane--which is, here, the ways external narrative constructs interiority--and the result is nevertheless masterful. I recommend this book to anyone willing to expand their understanding of mental illness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Self harm, Suicide, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis