Unknown Title

Title:

Show me all your scars : true stories of living with mental illness / introduction by Patrick J. Kennedy ; edited by Lee Gutkin [that is, Gutkind] ; foreword by Karen Wolk Feinstein.

Author:

Gutkind, Lee editor.

ISBN:

9781937163259

Physical Description:

xi, 257 pages ; 22 cm

Content Type:

text

Media Type (RDA):

unmediated

Carrier Type:

volume

General Note:

"20 fascinating journeys through madness"--Page 4 of cover.

Contents:

Take care / Chairs / A little crazy / Goodbye, suicide / Show me all your scars : why people hurt themselves and what they can teach us / Flying high / How I became an angel / True Americans / 'Scuse me while I fuck the sky / One of those / Make it a daisy / A day in the life with bipolar illness, and nine years later / A blessing / The pain that tore in you an ocean / There's a name for that? : living with trichotillomania / Playing catch / Another trail of breadcrumbs / Like a scratch on vinyl / Sequelae : the inner war / Thief of souls

Abstract:

Every year, one in four American adults suffers from a diagnosable mental health disorder. In these true stories, writers and their loved ones struggle as their worlds are upended. What do you do when your father kills himself, or your mother is committed to a psych ward, or your daughter starts hearing voices telling her to harm herselfor when you yourself hear such voices? Addressing bipolar disorder, OCD, trichillomania, self-harm, PTSD, and other diagnoses, these stories depict the difficulties and sorrows--and sometimes, too, the unexpected and surprising rewards--of living with mental illness.

Subject Term:

Mentally ill -- United States -- Biography.

Mental illness -- Anecdotes.

Mental illness -- United States -- Case studies.

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Added Author:

Gutkind, Lee

Format:

Books

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Niagara Falls Public Library	34305010891532	616.89 SHOW	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Every year, one in four American adults suffers from a diagnosable mental health disorder. In these true stories, writers and their loved ones struggle as their worlds are upended. What do you do when your father kills himself, or your mother is committed to a psych ward, or your daughter starts hearing voices telling her to harm herself--or when you yourself hear such voices? Addressing bipolar disorder, OCD, trichillomania, self-harm, PTSD, and other diagnoses, these stories vividly depict the difficulties and sorrows--and sometimes, too, the unexpected and surprising rewards--of living with mental illness.

Author Notes

Lee Gutkind has explored the worlds of medicine, technology, and science through writing for more than 25 years. He is the author of 16 books, including Stuck in Time: The Tragedy of Childhood Mental Illness, and the editor of nine anthologies about health and medicine, including I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse. His stories and op-ed pieces about mental illness and related issues have appeared in the New York Times and on National Public Radio. Gutkind is Distinguished Writer-in-Residence in the Consortium for Science, Policy Outcomes at Arizona State University and a professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Gutkind, himself no stranger to the topic of mental illness (Stuck in Time: The Tragedy of Childhood Mental Illness), has assembled a collection of other authors' writings that conveys what it is like to experience mental illness and expands the ways in which it can be expressed. The 20 selections are most unified in resisting traditional narrative tropes. Some stories withhold the biographical details about the narrator or protagonist that are obligatory in straightforward accounts, as in the first piece, Ella Wilson's "Take Care," which plunges directly into the height of a manic episode. Meanwhile, Ryan Bloom's "Scuse Me While I Fuck the Sky" experiments with formatting and style to convey what it is like to have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Lesser-known illnesses are also featured: Alison Townsend's "There's a Name for That? Living with Trichotillomania" intersperses her own story with research into the compulsion to pull one's hair. This volume demonstrates that narrative-as opposed to hard, unvarnished facts-can be the most effective way to impart information and promote activism. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

This fascinating if disturbing collection offers 20 first-person essays about schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, bulimia, self-injury by cutting, uncontrolled hair-pulling, and suicide attempts. An introduction by former U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy and the editor's note by science and medicine writer Gutkind set up the stories and explain why they're important. After all, more than 50 million Americans today suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. The essayists understand that they're the lucky ones: They have survived, at least so far. One of them, as a teen getting ready to swallow what she thinks is a fatal number of pills, thinks, Peace at least. Another feels that managing her bipolar disorder may actually give her a higher quality of life. The reason: I have to stay physically, mentally, emotionally and psychologically healthy. I must keep to a serious routine. Swimming at least a half a mile a day is as important as taking my medicine. These heartfelt, soul-baring stories provide moving and powerful food for thought.--Springen, Karen Copyright 2016 Booklist

Karen Wolk FeinsteinPatrick J. KennedyLee GutkindElla WilsonYuette Frock GottshallSusie MeserveJane CampbellAndrea RizzoJennifer MetskerAndy SmartRyan BloomAnnita SawyerJoyce O'ConnorMadeline Strong DiehlLeslie Smith TownsendChloe MattinglyAlison TownsendTerri SherrillPeg QuinnBeazie GriffinBeth WilesJessamine Price

Foreword	p. i
Introduction	p. v
Editor's Note	p. ix
Take Care	p. 1
Chairs	p. 13
A Little Crazy	p. 25
Goodbye, Suicide Optimism One	p. 35
Show Me All Your Scars: Why People Hurt Themselves and What They Can Teach Us	p. 47
Flying High	p. 61
How I Became an Angel	p. 73
True Americans	p. 85
'Scuse Me While I Fuck the Sky	p. 97
One of Those	p. 111
Make It a Daisy	p. 125
A Day in the Life With Bipolar Illness-And Nine Years Later	p. 139
A Blessing	p. 153
The Pain that Tore in You an Ocean	p. 167
There's a Name for That? Living with Trichotillomania	p. 181
Playing Catch	p. 193
Another Trail of Breadcrumbs	p. 207
Like a Scratch on Vinyl	p. 219
Sequelae: The Inner War	p. 229
Thief of Souls	p. 247
Acknowledgments	p. 259

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

Table of Contents