book reviews
Book reviews by and for those seeking to understand the human mind for all its strengths, quirks and shortcomings.
Review of Matt Haig's 'Reasons to Stay Alive'
Whilst on holiday last week I read Matt Haig’s, Reasons to Stay Alive. I had seen the front cover of this part memoir/part book floating around the internet over the past year and had seen various people praising its contents and how perfectly Matt grasped the concept of mental health issues, particularly anxiety and depression. In this part book/part memoir, Matt details his lifelong battle with both.
By Molly (Molls) Giles6 years ago in Psyche
Best Books on Overcoming Anxiety to Read
Anxiety disorders can make even the simplest everyday activities seem like an impossibility. And, if you don't start taking care of your mental health, things will only get progressively worse over time. However, don't think you are alone and there is nothing you can do about it. Millions of Americans are in a similar position, and there are things you can do to overcome anxiety.
By Stan Kubler6 years ago in Psyche
How Far Would You Go for the One You Love?
*This post contains a triggering subject and should be read with caution. Contains spoilers* This book that I am about to write about was one of the hardest books I have ever read. There is something about the topic of suicide that really hits where it hurts the most. Mental health is a a very debatable and touchy subject due to the fact that people do not have a deeper understanding about what is happening inside the mind. People don’t see what the person is thinking. There is an assumption that people fighting against mental health issues are over exaggerating, bottling up, being difficult, or even making up the war that is occurring in the brain. As a person who fights depression and anxiety every day, I have the right to say I understand but truth be told I don’t understand what is happening. The worst feeling in the world is knowing that you have lost hope in yourself; knowing that you are looking for a way to escape the pain. The best feeling in the world is knowing that there is someone out there who will help you walk through the battlefield. The most disgusting feeling in the world are the people who could care less about mental health until a tragedy strikes. As soon as someone important commits suicide or harms themselves due to mental health, there are people out there who claim they care and support awareness. Those people run away from the problem when they are put in a situation where they are faced with mental health. Hypocrisy towards suicide, depression, bipolar disorder or any other form of mental health is humiliating. Don’t judge something you cannot see. One day you might regret the decision you make or you might be proud of the life you just saved.
By Hailey Peterson7 years ago in Psyche
Must Read YA Books About Mental Health
Ever notice how mental health never really gets broached in children's lit, but becomes the main theme in many adult books? There's a reason for that. Mental illnesses often surface during the teens and early 20s, which makes it a way more relatable subject for older crowds.
By Rowan Marley7 years ago in Psyche
Inspiring Books on Mental Illness
Books carry interesting pieces of realism and clarity, so much that they have helped us overcome many various obstacles as individuals. While great fiction does often show us some of the root themes and concepts of the human intellect, so few books seem to identify how to remedy certain aspects of the degraded mind. In a world full of memoirs, self-help books, and encouraging stories of all kinds, mental health has been bogged down by the more prominent concerns of entertainment — making any of its titles increasing laborious to find.
By George Herman7 years ago in Psyche
Ophelia's Plights in 'Hamlet'
There is no doubt that one’s external environmental situation has a considerable sway on one’s emotional and mental health. This is all too true for Ophelia, who unfortunately was negatively affected by her situation. In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the readers are exposed to love, loss, revenge, and insanity in this devastating tragedy. Ophelia is a particularly sorry character; she is ensnared in Hamlet’s plans of feigning insanity, and therefore has her love ripped away from her after stating he never loved her at all and belittling her character. In addition to this, Ophelia’s already battered mental state is pushed over the precipice when Hamlet kills her father, Polonius. Ophelia is therefore driven to a woeful, inconsolable insanity. Through Ophelia’s journey of relationships and loss, Shakespeare demonstrates how the corrosive power of love and demise leads to insanity, and, in Ophelia’s case, her suicide.
By Leo Misislyan7 years ago in Psyche
Antifragility: A Student's Perspective
So do you know what Hydra is? No, not the glorified super villains that suck at getting the job done against one super-soldier with an almost limitless number of resources. The mythical creature, the Hydra, is supposed to be an awesome beast that Hercules faces in order to complete his trials and ascend to God-like status. So this creature is the kind of thing that Nicholas Nassim Taleb would consider an antifragile being. What is antifragile you ask? Well, being antifragile comes in degrees, and according to Taleb there are three distinct levels that lead up to this state of ultra-actualization: Fragility, Robustness, and Antifragility.
By Andy Barrales7 years ago in Psyche
Best Mental Illness Memoirs
If you are lucky enough to have never experienced mental illness firsthand, rest assured you know people who have, probably many of them. Despite the leaps and bounds the scientific community has made in categorizing diagnoses and fine-tuning psychiatric treatments, some aspects of the experience simply cannot be measured quantitatively. The brain, after all, cannot be properly understood without acknowledging one's individual emotional experience. Firsthand accounts about mental illness provide insight into the human psyche that no blood test or brain scan possibly could. Each of these testimonies speaks to a slightly different set of symptoms, environmental circumstances, prognosis and recovery; and yet, each one shares a common thread of empathy that transcends all differences in detail. These mental illness memoirs are must-reads for anyone who's experienced similar suffering as well as those who want to try and understand.
By Rachel G. David7 years ago in Psyche