A review by lucyjunee
Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles by Robison Wells, Maureen Johnson
4.0
This is an anthology of essays by various authors sharing their experience with mental health. This is a topic that I am extremely passionate about and is very close to me, so I was cautious about this book. It’s such a sensitive subject matter that it needs to be handled with extreme care.
And it was. This book was honest, raw and authentic and it didn’t in any shape or form glamourise mental Illness, but gave accurate portrayals of it.
What I especially loved about this book was that it demonstrates mental illness can take many forms and it particular to that one person. There is no one way it is presented and there is not one way to deal with it. It’s specific to that person and I think that’s an important message to send across.
This book discusses a myriad of mental health conditions (so trigger warnings) such as: eating disorders, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, bipolar, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s and addiction. Although I think these are as equally significant and deserving to have light and awareness brought to them, I wish there was more representation for eating disorders. They are extremely common and have the highest mortality rate of any other mental illness, so I wish there could have been more awareness of that.
What I think is phenomenal about this is it brings awareness to such a crucial topic. It stimulates conversation of the importance of it, instead of shying away from it and being ashamed. It shows that those with mental disorders are also stigmatised “a diabetic takes insulin, an epileptic takes anti-seizure medication...so why is a person stigmatised for taking a drug that corrects a chemical Imbalance in their brain?” Mental illness is all too common, and nobody, as Kati Morton said, “no one EVER deserves to feel ashamed for their mental health issues” it honestly baffles me that in 2018 we are still stereotyping and stigmatising those with something that affects 1 in 4 people globally. This book shows that it’s okay to talk about, okay to deal with and it’s okay to have a mental illness.
We shouldn’t be ashamed of that.
What I think is incredible is these are accounts from famous authors. Authors that we idolise. It illustrates that just like me or you, they’re people. They have baggage, they have issues and they struggle. To put this message across is very important and it adds to the idea that mental illness is common and it’s okay to talk about. I applaud every single person who shared their story in this anthology because it takes a lot to come out and tell your story. They deserve the world for that. I think they would have helped a lot of people, whether that’s having them feel comforted or validated, inspired recovery or just allowing the, to understand that they’re not alone. Whatever it is, it’s brilliant. I know that I definitely gained something from this book. It hit so close to home it brought tears to my eyes repeatedly, it’s absolutely incredible.
In addition to this, it also allows understanding. As someone who is very passionate about mental health and hopes to work in that field when I’m older, I have a decent understanding of most conditions. However, I am not familiar with issues such as ADHD or PTSD, so to read this, I gained so much knowledge and now I can understand people around me who suffer from this. I think that’s amazing and it would really allow people to understand this condition better.
I believe that if you’re in the right mindset and feel like it’s appropriate for you, I think you should read this book. It’s absolutely phenomenal and the fact that it’s discussing something so crucial deserves more recognition. I recommend if you’re ready.
Love Lucy x
And it was. This book was honest, raw and authentic and it didn’t in any shape or form glamourise mental Illness, but gave accurate portrayals of it.
What I especially loved about this book was that it demonstrates mental illness can take many forms and it particular to that one person. There is no one way it is presented and there is not one way to deal with it. It’s specific to that person and I think that’s an important message to send across.
This book discusses a myriad of mental health conditions (so trigger warnings) such as: eating disorders, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, bipolar, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s and addiction. Although I think these are as equally significant and deserving to have light and awareness brought to them, I wish there was more representation for eating disorders. They are extremely common and have the highest mortality rate of any other mental illness, so I wish there could have been more awareness of that.
What I think is phenomenal about this is it brings awareness to such a crucial topic. It stimulates conversation of the importance of it, instead of shying away from it and being ashamed. It shows that those with mental disorders are also stigmatised “a diabetic takes insulin, an epileptic takes anti-seizure medication...so why is a person stigmatised for taking a drug that corrects a chemical Imbalance in their brain?” Mental illness is all too common, and nobody, as Kati Morton said, “no one EVER deserves to feel ashamed for their mental health issues” it honestly baffles me that in 2018 we are still stereotyping and stigmatising those with something that affects 1 in 4 people globally. This book shows that it’s okay to talk about, okay to deal with and it’s okay to have a mental illness.
We shouldn’t be ashamed of that.
What I think is incredible is these are accounts from famous authors. Authors that we idolise. It illustrates that just like me or you, they’re people. They have baggage, they have issues and they struggle. To put this message across is very important and it adds to the idea that mental illness is common and it’s okay to talk about. I applaud every single person who shared their story in this anthology because it takes a lot to come out and tell your story. They deserve the world for that. I think they would have helped a lot of people, whether that’s having them feel comforted or validated, inspired recovery or just allowing the, to understand that they’re not alone. Whatever it is, it’s brilliant. I know that I definitely gained something from this book. It hit so close to home it brought tears to my eyes repeatedly, it’s absolutely incredible.
In addition to this, it also allows understanding. As someone who is very passionate about mental health and hopes to work in that field when I’m older, I have a decent understanding of most conditions. However, I am not familiar with issues such as ADHD or PTSD, so to read this, I gained so much knowledge and now I can understand people around me who suffer from this. I think that’s amazing and it would really allow people to understand this condition better.
I believe that if you’re in the right mindset and feel like it’s appropriate for you, I think you should read this book. It’s absolutely phenomenal and the fact that it’s discussing something so crucial deserves more recognition. I recommend if you’re ready.
Love Lucy x