Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

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

6 reviews

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

wow, this is such a necessary read. while there are some dark personal moments, they are coupled with informative commentary. also, i really recommend the audiobook because their are audio clips from the authors therapy sessions which i thought added a lot. please check content warnings!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Bullying, Ableism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

decie's review

challenging reflective sad

3.75

so.......mixed feelings. there were brief snippets of saneism throughout the book, which I didn't love. for example - the outdated (incorrect and stigmatizing) way the author explained DID was not great. and then later in the book she literally said cptsd is the only diagnosis that is caused by other people/isn't your fault, unlike [list of highly stigmatized conditions that are literally also caused by trauma]. 

I did like a lot of things she did in this book. rly struggling to rate it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Ableism

Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

provo's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Luckily, Stephanie Foo did not just write a memoir - as a journalist, she researches very well and takes the reader on a journey from her childhood to the first real results of her recovery. 
By doing so, she doesn’t try to paint a picture of a miracle healing, but shows, how hard it is to find individual solutions in a dysfunctional medical system where not enough professionals are familiar with this young diagnosis. She elaborates how racism and sexism play a part in c-ptsd and does not shy away from talking about genetics and intergenerational trauma.

At some points in the early chapters the abuse is written quite graphic, so be aware of that, otherwise I’d say it is the perfect book for someone recently diagnosed with c-ptsd or people who are close to someone with this diagnosis. It also has a lot of quotes for follow-up-literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Self harm, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Racism

wetdirtreads's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Racism, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Hate crime, and War

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This was really good. It struck me how candid Stephanie was being about her childhood traumas, how those experiences affected her and as a result rippled down to all of Foo's relationships and aspirations.
The descriptions of the childhood abuse was palpable, sickening, and incredibly sad. Major content warnings for these scenes, please take care while reading.

The relationships with her parents in her adulthood was also fascinating. How she manages to maintain some contact with her father despite how much he hurt her. We do what we must to find mental and physical safety but how much we can crave love from our parents even if we fear them. It's a constant balancing act and so emotionally exhausting.

I don't know very much about psychiatry and psychology so this aspect of the memoir was a bit over my head but I still followed along. She made it pretty easy for non-experts to understand the different kinds of treatment she sought. This memoir is so sad, reading about Foo encountering so many hurdles and struggling to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Knowing that she was well enough to write this memoir, reflecting on her life does little to lessen the second-hand blow of her life story to the reader. It's heavy heavy heavy.

I wish her the best in continuing to heal and understand herself before and after the trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Bullying, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Self harm, Hate crime, Ableism, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism

Minor: Body shaming, War, Incest, and Infertility

negative self-talk, bad therapy experiences, victim blaming.

lilcoppertop's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dysphoria, Grief, Alcoholism, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Abandonment, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Racism, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, and Violence