A review by klariti
first, we make the beast beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety by Sarah Wilson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 59%.
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 and Mental illness