No Such Thing as Normal

by Bryony Gordon

'Mental illness has led to some of the worst times of my life... but it has also led to some of the most brilliant. Bad things happen, but good things can come from them. And strange as it might sound, my mental health has been vastly improved by being mentally ill.'

From depression and anxiety to personality disorders, one in four of us experience mental health issues every year and, in these strange and unsettling times, more of us than ever are struggling to cope. In No Such Thing As Normal, Bryony offers sensible, practical advice, covering subjects such as sleep, addiction, worry, medication, self-image, boundary setting, therapy, learned behaviour, mindfulness and, of course - as the founder of Mental Health Mates - the power of walking and talking. She also strives to equip those in need of help with tools and information to get the best out of a poorly funded system that can be both frightening and overwhelming. The result is a lively, honest and direct guide to mental health that cuts through the Instagram-wellness bubble to talk about how each of us can feel stronger, better and just a little bit less alone.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published July 19, 2022

Reviews

[Vinay Sutaria · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very basic read. A lot of repetition. Everything that can be found on the likes of Instagram or YouTube videos. Like a cake that is tasteless, but has loads of icing on it.

[Liv Cornelius · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. Some points that will stick with me and some not so much. Didn’t agree with her on everything she said but an enjoyable quick read nonetheless.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5/5 - I write this appreciating the various tools, language, and support that people use in order to start or continue understanding their mental health, even if this was not for me. No Such Thing as Normal is a realistic and friendly discussion on mental health. I appreciate Bryony for sharing her personal experiences and breaking down mental health into a daily healing process: looking at everyday interactions and tasks as a place of healing and not focusing on the large tasks.

This was a short, quick read, but not one I necessarily enjoyed. I found that it lacked the substance I was expecting. The book reads like a friend telling what worked for them in their mental health journey. This can be a very helpful entry point for many trying to understand and heal their own mental health or support others in their journey, but it wasn’t working for me. I didn’t take a lot away from this, personally, and found myself losing focus as messaging became repetitive. I found the frequent pull-quotes to be distracting and had to stop reading them since they are already in the text. I didn't know this going into the book, but it focuses on the great resources in the UK for mental health. As a non-UK reader, the principle could be similar, but it adds an extra step to find their equivalent. The overall writing style and framing of the subject did not engage me, and I probably wouldn’t have finished if I wasn’t reading for book club.

Again, everyone's reception and journey to better mental health is different, and even discussing the topic and sharing unique experiences is important and not to be discredited.

[Liz Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relatable, but wish it went into more depth rather than just touching the surface of mental health.

[Katie Hallett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Accessible and sensible. Some points I don’t quite agree on. But none the less a really helpful book.

[Lucy S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most realistic and down-to-earth self-help book I've ever read.

For example, where many of these books will say, "Just accept yourself! Love yourself! Don't care what other people think!" Bryony Gordon says: "It would be disingenuous of me to say that I no longer care what other people think of me. I do. But what I no longer do is beat myself up because I sometimes care what other people think of me. Instead, I breathe, and remember that my insecurities do not make me a bad person - they just make me a person, one who, through various very normal life events, doesn't always have a strong sense of self-worth. I remember that the single most important factor for my wellbeing is not what other people think of me - it is what I think of myself."

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a practical guide to mental wellness written by someone who has mental health problems. This book really made me think and resonated with me on so many levels. It is written with humour and empathy. But Bryony Gordon writes frankly about her own mental health problems and someone may find this triggering.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read another one of Bryony's books. The one about her own struggles as a young adult. Bryony doesn't hide her privilege but it is quite difficult to see this as advice when the person freely acknowledges that mental health services on the NHS are woeful and that she had the resources to go private. I found that one I saw this book as a friend telling me about her mental health issues I enjoyed it a little more but it is incredibly short, not very in-depth and is quite hard to see it as anything other than just to make money. That being said there were a couple of snippets that made it worth reading, I learned some things about OCD that I wasn't aware of in such detail.

I think it's better than some of the Instagram/Influencer/just-watch-a-Disney-film school of books on mental health because at least she has lived it but with a support system and a job that is flexible and well-paying so it isn't necessarily what the average person will go through.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good book. It dragged a little when focused on sources of help within the NHS since I'm not in the UK, but that's certainly important of anyone in the UK. Otherwise, it provided a lot of insight into what the author thought, felt, etc. during mental health episodes and I think her use of physical ailments to frame discussions of mental ailments.

[Tanya (Novel Paperbacks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of repetitive sentences. And quite basic information. This is not a very in depth guide to mental health. But it is a omething that would be very helpful to people who want to know that they aren’t alone.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, easy to read and useful. It has given me more reading suggestions which I really appreciate.
Nothing profoundly new or Earth-shattering but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a great book to have so much useful information in one place.

[Gabriëlle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sommige hoofdstukken waren fijn en inzichtgevend, andere hoofdstukken iets minder bruikbaar en sommige stukken heb ik overgeslagen, bijv. omdat het over organisaties in de UK ging. Maar al met al een fijn boek!

[Abbie Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a light read and really encouraging. I started this book 2 years ago and have been in a book slump until recently, I finished it and fell back in love with it. I love the highlighted points at the end of the book

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Amazing self help tool. Easy to read and digest.

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relatable book. Just wish it went into more detail rather than keeping it surface level.

[Troy Cooley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn’t the target audience of this

[Madison Boydell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved her style, useful, insightful, funny

[Jade Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doesn't really give many remedies but does make you realise there are people out there that feel the same which is sometimes the reminder you need

[Imogen Hodges · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - liked chapter 9

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. Have took plenty of notes and would recommend to anyone

[Robyn Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really comforting, I’m going to keep this always within reach for whenever I feel I need some advice and kind words. It is something that has helped me and I know will continue to do so.

[Mehreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a good book for the basics of mental health. I enjoyed the author’s reading of it for the audiobook and how her own experiences helped to write the book.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually think I could listen to her read the phone book out! Another brilliant audio book from Bryony

[Shanie Herbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful easy read

[Graham Donnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read in to the ways that we can all look at ourselves and think about the thoughts that we are having. Thoughts have such a powerful force over our day to day lifestyle and making sure that these are positive amongst everything that is going on in our lives is so important. This book provides you with a guide for this and I’m sure there is a lesson to be learnt from it by all of us.

[Harrison McCoid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favourite type of writing style but some nice points and self reflective analysis throughout.