Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

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

14 reviews

caidyn's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

An excellent read with a critical, cultural lens on mental illness. That lens often gets lost with practitioners.

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Content Warnings

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

adcamp04's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Abortion

productioneer's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Racism, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Confinement, and Child death

Minor: Death and Grief

shakakan's review against another edition

dark emotional informative slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

beanusminimus's review

reflective

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Ableism, Addiction, Abandonment, Abortion, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Mental illness

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 against another edition

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 against another edition

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 against another edition

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

erint's review against another edition

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