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Side Effects of Living: An Anthology of Voices on Mental Health
‘This book is beautiful and it is brave. We can only salute the courage with which all these writers have let us into their lives, to give us a glimpse into the multiple worlds of what we have described and stigmatized as mental illness. Read them.’—JERRY PINTO, author Em and the Big Hoom and Murder in Mahim
There are different sizes of bodies. There are different shades of the mind. There are different states of mind in distress. Side Effects of Living presents the words and verses of survivors, writers, poets and artists, who are struggling with a mental condition or have watched their loved ones suffer. Through first-person life experiences and moving poetry, they attempt to destigmatise mental health issues, as they describe what happens when the mind gives in—or gives up. Why does it happen, and can we do anything about it?
Refreshingly honest, always uplifting, this collection urges us to reject the shame and blame that often accompanies mental illness.
There are different sizes of bodies. There are different shades of the mind. There are different states of mind in distress. Side Effects of Living presents the words and verses of survivors, writers, poets and artists, who are struggling with a mental condition or have watched their loved ones suffer. Through first-person life experiences and moving poetry, they attempt to destigmatise mental health issues, as they describe what happens when the mind gives in—or gives up. Why does it happen, and can we do anything about it?
Refreshingly honest, always uplifting, this collection urges us to reject the shame and blame that often accompanies mental illness.
224 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2018
9 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 9, 2022
There’s nothing like enough mental health talk 🫥
These days my focus on reading is so specific regarding some of the most important issues I need to educate myself with concerning health, basic knowledgeable topics and keep my mind ‘expand’ with each book I read.
This is such a good exercise to ‘squeeze’ out most of the negative thoughts as well!
Next to my most recent read on disability, I chose this book on mental health to read and review.
It has helped me a lot to know and understand more about the lives of different people living with different mental health conditions.
The book is a combination of essays, experiences, poetry, short stories, comics all having a common theme of bipolar disorders, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and other mental health issues from different people who are going through these conditions.
Also, the content highlights the lack of basic health facilities, the neglect and the misunderstandings, the stigma and discrimination faced.
An eye opening read. A really good book which will help everyone understand and be more aware about the conditions mentioned, more importantly on how and what we can do to help make mental health talk and discussion a normal thing.
These days my focus on reading is so specific regarding some of the most important issues I need to educate myself with concerning health, basic knowledgeable topics and keep my mind ‘expand’ with each book I read.
This is such a good exercise to ‘squeeze’ out most of the negative thoughts as well!
Next to my most recent read on disability, I chose this book on mental health to read and review.
It has helped me a lot to know and understand more about the lives of different people living with different mental health conditions.
The book is a combination of essays, experiences, poetry, short stories, comics all having a common theme of bipolar disorders, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and other mental health issues from different people who are going through these conditions.
Also, the content highlights the lack of basic health facilities, the neglect and the misunderstandings, the stigma and discrimination faced.
An eye opening read. A really good book which will help everyone understand and be more aware about the conditions mentioned, more importantly on how and what we can do to help make mental health talk and discussion a normal thing.
August 27, 2019
Absolutely phenomenal.
Urgent, searing, necessary.
Urgent, searing, necessary.
June 21, 2020
A wonderful anthology with some very potent essays questioning normative stances on mental health.
July 10, 2020
When Sushant Singh Rajput passed away last month, of suspected suicide, there was a furious amount of chatter about mental health and depression before the conversation moved on to nepotism and Bollywood.
Now some of this commentary heartened me - I was happy people were talking about depression and suicide - but some of it disappointed me.
There are still so many misconceptions and needs for explanations that fit into, if it is correct to use the word here, neuro-typical world views.
Now I have had an interest in mental health issues for a long time, but this book changed everything for me, and showed me how very little I know.
To start off with, my view of mental health has really been coloured by depression and anxiety - and that too a rather limited knowledge of the two illnesses.
I know very little about bipolar, schizophrenia or dissociative disorders. I know almost nothing about what it means to be incarcerated, except that the level of facilities is really bad.
One of my favourite Ted Talks is Chimamanda Adichie’s The Danger of a Single Story. Now whatever you may think about her, sometimes disappointing views on other areas of life, this particular thing stayed with me.
We have a single story of mental illness - or at least much fewer stories than we should. They are oversimplified and incomplete.
“Side Effects of Living” is a brilliant and powerful book that will broaden perspectives and open up conversations we should have been having a long time ago.
It is hard to explain in words what this did for me, but it shifted something very fundamental in the way I see the world.
There are a few books in your life that change everything. For me, this is one of them.
Now some of this commentary heartened me - I was happy people were talking about depression and suicide - but some of it disappointed me.
There are still so many misconceptions and needs for explanations that fit into, if it is correct to use the word here, neuro-typical world views.
Now I have had an interest in mental health issues for a long time, but this book changed everything for me, and showed me how very little I know.
To start off with, my view of mental health has really been coloured by depression and anxiety - and that too a rather limited knowledge of the two illnesses.
I know very little about bipolar, schizophrenia or dissociative disorders. I know almost nothing about what it means to be incarcerated, except that the level of facilities is really bad.
One of my favourite Ted Talks is Chimamanda Adichie’s The Danger of a Single Story. Now whatever you may think about her, sometimes disappointing views on other areas of life, this particular thing stayed with me.
We have a single story of mental illness - or at least much fewer stories than we should. They are oversimplified and incomplete.
“Side Effects of Living” is a brilliant and powerful book that will broaden perspectives and open up conversations we should have been having a long time ago.
It is hard to explain in words what this did for me, but it shifted something very fundamental in the way I see the world.
There are a few books in your life that change everything. For me, this is one of them.
July 13, 2021
Mental health is a subject close to me heart and I read a lot of books which talk about mental health or where the central character has a diagnosed/undiagnosed mental health condition.
This particular is an anthology of first-hand stories of the sufferer as well as the family members/friends who are directly impacted.
All of these are real stories so I have no right to judge the story but the reader in me struggles to read a text without being critical of the writing, irrespective of the story.
Since the book has multiple stories I loved the writing of a few but found others average. Nonetheless, overall the book does provide some brilliant perspective on mental health. Some of the thought provoking questions raised in the book are:
- Is mental health just a tag given to those who don't follow the norms of the majority?
"Everyone hanging on to the shared fiction we call reality"
One of the writers in the book believes that 'mental health is a cultural artefact, an interpretation imposed by a hegemonic view of reality. It is, at its core, a non-standard way of experiencing and responding to the world'.
- Do psychiatry/mental health tags discount the context of the person, the reaction to which was the symptom of the tag?
Basically, any other human subjected to similar amount of stress/trauma could also have reacted in a similar way but since they didn't come under the test, they didn't get the tag and those who were subjected to the hostility and reacted (as a response to the hostility) got the tag.
One of the writers talked about a book which suggested 'the possibility that self-harm was an entirely appropriate response to difficult life events; what was inappropriate were the psychiatric and social responses to it, which sought to medicalise human response and shame people, calling those of us who self-harm manipulative, emotional, self-centred and even failed suicides......The idea here is not to medicate or manipulate someone to stop self-harm-which essentially, results in taking away their coping mechanism without changing the contexts and causes of their need to self-harm-but to equip them to deal with the underlying distress.'.
- What is impact of a tag-not only how the society perceives it but how it affects the sense of self of the person with a tag?
'And I want to talk about the effect of diagnosis, of labels, on a mentally ill person's identity. The problem of social stigma is obvious, but a diagnosed person's changing view of themselves is more insidious.
How much do I want to accept the identity of being a mentally ill person? Do I want to look in the mirror everyday and tell myself, "You're mentally ill, the psychiatrist says so and she's the final authority on the subject", or do I want to say, "There's nothing wrong with you, you're just a victim of society...?"'.
- Is mental health treatment just a trial and error and the person has to depend solely on luck to find the right treatment in the minimum possible time?
There are enough stories in the book to confirm that most of the people didn't get a 'first time right' treatment. Who bears the additional mental cost of search?
This particular is an anthology of first-hand stories of the sufferer as well as the family members/friends who are directly impacted.
All of these are real stories so I have no right to judge the story but the reader in me struggles to read a text without being critical of the writing, irrespective of the story.
Since the book has multiple stories I loved the writing of a few but found others average. Nonetheless, overall the book does provide some brilliant perspective on mental health. Some of the thought provoking questions raised in the book are:
- Is mental health just a tag given to those who don't follow the norms of the majority?
"Everyone hanging on to the shared fiction we call reality"
One of the writers in the book believes that 'mental health is a cultural artefact, an interpretation imposed by a hegemonic view of reality. It is, at its core, a non-standard way of experiencing and responding to the world'.
- Do psychiatry/mental health tags discount the context of the person, the reaction to which was the symptom of the tag?
Basically, any other human subjected to similar amount of stress/trauma could also have reacted in a similar way but since they didn't come under the test, they didn't get the tag and those who were subjected to the hostility and reacted (as a response to the hostility) got the tag.
One of the writers talked about a book which suggested 'the possibility that self-harm was an entirely appropriate response to difficult life events; what was inappropriate were the psychiatric and social responses to it, which sought to medicalise human response and shame people, calling those of us who self-harm manipulative, emotional, self-centred and even failed suicides......The idea here is not to medicate or manipulate someone to stop self-harm-which essentially, results in taking away their coping mechanism without changing the contexts and causes of their need to self-harm-but to equip them to deal with the underlying distress.'.
- What is impact of a tag-not only how the society perceives it but how it affects the sense of self of the person with a tag?
'And I want to talk about the effect of diagnosis, of labels, on a mentally ill person's identity. The problem of social stigma is obvious, but a diagnosed person's changing view of themselves is more insidious.
How much do I want to accept the identity of being a mentally ill person? Do I want to look in the mirror everyday and tell myself, "You're mentally ill, the psychiatrist says so and she's the final authority on the subject", or do I want to say, "There's nothing wrong with you, you're just a victim of society...?"'.
- Is mental health treatment just a trial and error and the person has to depend solely on luck to find the right treatment in the minimum possible time?
There are enough stories in the book to confirm that most of the people didn't get a 'first time right' treatment. Who bears the additional mental cost of search?
January 5, 2021
"Should I kill myself or have a cup of coffee?"- Albert Camus
//Book review//
SIDE EFFECTS OF LIVING, EDITED BY JHILMIL BRECKENRIDGE AND NAMARITA KATHAIT
"Do I want to look in the mirror everyday and tell myself, " You're mentally ill, the psychiatrist says so and she's the final authority on the subject ", or do I want to say, " There's nothing wrong with you, you're just a victim of society/the military-industrial complex/neoliberalism/gender oppression/capitalism/the unholy nexus between Big pharma and psychiatry/evil aliens sending bipolar rays to earth".
"Underneath shame and pain,
guilt and anger
hopelessness and trauma,
recovery and healing
I see you"
How do I begin?! I'm literally out of words. The only statement reeling in my headspace right now, "Why the hell didn't I find this book earlier? ".
I unearthed this gem accidentally and I'm fascinated with every bit of the experiences shared through this book.
What we consider an " appropriate behavior ", is constituted within a socially constructed, consensus, and any deviation from that consensus reality is deemed pathology. This idea is not just about people holding different beliefs about reality, but about the different realities co-existing, which some may have access to while others do not.
The non consensual reality is what poses the mess of misunderstanding and pouring in of unsolicited advices from uncanny people around. The best escape from circumstances like these, "accepting oneself and growing", because life is not a competition, it is a journey intended to be crafted in one's own way, and acknowledging the very fact that we all are different and 'different' doesn't mean 'abnormal'.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A must read!
//Book review//
SIDE EFFECTS OF LIVING, EDITED BY JHILMIL BRECKENRIDGE AND NAMARITA KATHAIT
"Do I want to look in the mirror everyday and tell myself, " You're mentally ill, the psychiatrist says so and she's the final authority on the subject ", or do I want to say, " There's nothing wrong with you, you're just a victim of society/the military-industrial complex/neoliberalism/gender oppression/capitalism/the unholy nexus between Big pharma and psychiatry/evil aliens sending bipolar rays to earth".
"Underneath shame and pain,
guilt and anger
hopelessness and trauma,
recovery and healing
I see you"
How do I begin?! I'm literally out of words. The only statement reeling in my headspace right now, "Why the hell didn't I find this book earlier? ".
I unearthed this gem accidentally and I'm fascinated with every bit of the experiences shared through this book.
What we consider an " appropriate behavior ", is constituted within a socially constructed, consensus, and any deviation from that consensus reality is deemed pathology. This idea is not just about people holding different beliefs about reality, but about the different realities co-existing, which some may have access to while others do not.
The non consensual reality is what poses the mess of misunderstanding and pouring in of unsolicited advices from uncanny people around. The best escape from circumstances like these, "accepting oneself and growing", because life is not a competition, it is a journey intended to be crafted in one's own way, and acknowledging the very fact that we all are different and 'different' doesn't mean 'abnormal'.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A must read!
February 9, 2022
As much as I appreciate and respect the intent behind publishing this book and the contributions of different authors who have been brave enough to share their stories, it failed to make an impact on me. As someone who routinely deals with anxiety attacks, I would have liked to read stories around anxiety and panic disorders. Having said that, I'm truly grateful for folks who are working towards erasing the shame underlying mental disorders by speaking up. Kudos.
May 11, 2021
Nothing to write home about.
November 29, 2021
Brave. Bold. Honest. Moving.
August 30, 2023
Immersive
September 21, 2024
A magnificent collection of stories on mental health.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews