Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Collected Schizophrenias

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang

26 reviews

moonyreadsbystarlight's review

informative reflective

4.5

This was an excellent essay collection about the author's experience of schizoaffective and bipolar disorders. She talks about her experience of it, parts of the process getting diagnoses, dealing with ableism in various contexts, spirituality, media, and more. Not only does it show the mind of the author in some ways, it says a lot about how people with these less socially acceptable symptoms and disorders are treated.

The only real drawback of this was some of the discussion around autism in one of the essays. It felt very dated and I'm not sure how to feel about some of the discussion around functioning labels. So that is why I didn't give it a full 5 stars. The rest of the collection was really solid and very interesting.

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annvalentine's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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cwissybwd's review

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informative medium-paced

4.5

This book served its purpose in making me feel less alone. I was diagnosed with schizoaffective as well, and her essays are so well-written. There’s a lot of good information, and the anecdotes are so well-described, you could almost feel it, too.

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newgene's review

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informative medium-paced

3.5

I enjoyed reading this book for another lived perspective about the psychotic experience, but fall short of a good rating and hesitate to recommend it for some troubling opinions in the book. The author focuses a lot on differentiating herself as “high functioning,” beyond admission of privilege, and there was a lot of othering in the book. There were also some victim blaming remarks that implied police officers and hospitals have an excuse for cruelty towards some people living with psychosis. Overall there were some interesting observations made about living with psychosis in an ableist society, but I really think the author has some growing to do. If it is not triggering for you I recommend reading it with a grain of salt.

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vercopaanir's review

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Again, this book is very much like a memoir and so I choose to leave it un-rated, but I was fascinated by Wang’s experiences and really appreciated that she was willing to share them so publicly as to write them in a book. I do my best not to be ableist, but I know I have work to do, and that includes ableism around psychosis and the schizophrenias. Being invited into the mind of someone with schizoaffective disorder was an incredible opportunity for learning and growth.

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tetedump's review

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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sofipitch's review

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dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

I saw some people saying that they didn't this the essays were personal enough, which I thought they were deeply personal and some were a little difficult to read for my own reasons. I can see why Wang might put up some distance, she is not your spectacle

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kamuelaboy's review

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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madelonpaige's review

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informative medium-paced

4.75

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ka_cam's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

The essays were quick reads and kept me engaged- interesting look into the authors navigation of herself/identity and the experience of mental (and physical) health challenges. The essays were sometimes repetitive but I still found it an interested exploration of her experience and self-understanding.

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