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newgene's review
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Ableism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide
bardic_llama's review
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Rape, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, and Ableism
anovelbeauty's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Book TW: mental illness, discussions on various aspects of psychosis, chronic illness, discussion of suicide/self-harm/harm to others, discussion of rape/abuse/CP, involuntary hospitalisation and restraint
Given my own internal rules about rating anthologies/poetry collections/etc. I probably shouldn’t be giving this a star rating. However, I wanted to give you a visual depiction of how much I loved this book so you would read the review and hopefully /the book/.
I think it’s important for everyone to read about the experiences of people who have gone through life differently than them, but it’s /imperative/ for those who are entering/in service and helping professions. As someone in training to work in the mental health field, I cannot limit myself to descriptions of mental illnesses in textbooks or a list of symptoms in the DSM if I hope to be a fully rounded clinician. It is so important to read first-hand accounts, to remind ourselves of the humanity and complexity of mental health and illness. The way Wang weaves her essays is not only beautiful in a purely literary sense, but it is beautiful because it is so human, so connective. She draws you into her world and shows you, as much as is possible, what it is like to exist in tandem with schizoaffective disorder, part of the collected schizophrenias. This is not, however, an entirely bleak book. There is hope throughput and Wang weaves humor and snark even into the hardest of moments. That being said, there are times where the book is hard to read or made me cry for her suffering. Regardless of what I felt at any given part of the book, it was continually emotional and impactful. While I would recommend this book to anyone, I think it is absolutely a must read for anyone in healthcare or public service. Build your understanding and empathy; read this book. Digest it slowly. Ponder it. Underline, annotate, and dogear if that’s your thing, just don’t ignore its value. Esmé Weijun Wang has laid her soul and her sufferings in this series of essays and it’s the least we can do to give her words the collective space they deserve in our minds (and bookshelves).
Given my own internal rules about rating anthologies/poetry collections/etc. I probably shouldn’t be giving this a star rating. However, I wanted to give you a visual depiction of how much I loved this book so you would read the review and hopefully /the book/.
I think it’s important for everyone to read about the experiences of people who have gone through life differently than them, but it’s /imperative/ for those who are entering/in service and helping professions. As someone in training to work in the mental health field, I cannot limit myself to descriptions of mental illnesses in textbooks or a list of symptoms in the DSM if I hope to be a fully rounded clinician. It is so important to read first-hand accounts, to remind ourselves of the humanity and complexity of mental health and illness. The way Wang weaves her essays is not only beautiful in a purely literary sense, but it is beautiful because it is so human, so connective. She draws you into her world and shows you, as much as is possible, what it is like to exist in tandem with schizoaffective disorder, part of the collected schizophrenias. This is not, however, an entirely bleak book. There is hope throughput and Wang weaves humor and snark even into the hardest of moments. That being said, there are times where the book is hard to read or made me cry for her suffering. Regardless of what I felt at any given part of the book, it was continually emotional and impactful. While I would recommend this book to anyone, I think it is absolutely a must read for anyone in healthcare or public service. Build your understanding and empathy; read this book. Digest it slowly. Ponder it. Underline, annotate, and dogear if that’s your thing, just don’t ignore its value. Esmé Weijun Wang has laid her soul and her sufferings in this series of essays and it’s the least we can do to give her words the collective space they deserve in our minds (and bookshelves).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Medical content
Minor: Suicide, Police brutality, and Pedophilia
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