ILLNESS NARRATIVES
Haben
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"This autobiography by a millennial Helen Keller teems with grace and grit." -- O Magazine "A profoundly important memoir." -- The Times ** As featured in The Wall Street Journal, People, and on The TODAY Show ** A New York Times "New & Noteworthy" Pick ** An O Magazine "Book of the Month" Pick ** A Publishers Weekly Bestseller ** The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn't see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents' harrowing experiences during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Their refugee story inspired her to embark on a quest for knowledge, traveling the world in search of the secret to belonging. She explored numerous fascinating places, including Mali, where she helped build a school under the scorching Saharan sun. Her many adventures over the years range from the hair-raising to the hilarious. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles, graduated from Harvard Law, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities. HABEN takes readers through a thrilling game of blind hide-and-seek in Louisiana, a treacherous climb up an iceberg in Alaska, and a magical moment with President Obama at The White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating memoir is a testament to one woman's determination to find the keys to connection.
Instrumental
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"A mesmeric combination of vivid, keen, obsessive precision and raw, urgent energy." --Zoe Williams,Guardian "Thrilling and harrowing . . . Unsurpassed and unsurpassable." --Sunday Times James Rhodes's passion for music has been his lifeline--the thread that has held through a life encompassing abuse and turmoil. But whether listening to Rachmaninov on a loop as a traumatized teenager or discovering a Bach adagio while in a hospital ward, he survived his demons by encounters with musical miracles. These--along with a chance encounter with a stranger--inspired him to become the renowned concert pianist he is today. Instrumentalis a memoir like no other: unapologetically candid, boldly outspoken, and surprisingly funny--shot through with a mordant wit, even in its darkest moments. A feature film adaptation of Rhodes's incredible story is now in development from Monumental Pictures and BBC Films, following a competitive bidding war involving major U.S. and U.K. companies. An impassioned tribute to the therapeutic powers of music,Instrumental also weaves in fascinating facts about how classical music actually works and about the extraordinary lives of some of the great composers. It explains why and how music has the potential to transform all of our lives.
Manic
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An attractive, highly successful Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer, Terri Cheney had been battling debilitating bipolar disorder for the better part of her life--and concealing a pharmacy's worth of prescription drugs meant to stabilize her moods and make her "normal." In explosive bursts of prose that mirror the devastating mania and extreme despair of her illness, Cheney describes her roller-coaster existence with shocking honesty, giving brilliant voice to the previously unarticulated madness she endured. Brave, electrifying, poignant, and disturbing, Manic does not simply explain bipolar disorder--it takes us into its grasp and does not let go.
The Scar
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At the age of twenty-seven, married, living in New York, and working in book design, Mary Cregan gives birth to her first child, a daughter she names Anna. But it's apparent that something is terribly wrong, and two days later, Anna dies--plunging Cregan into suicidal despair.Decades later, sustained by her work, a second marriage, and a son, Cregan reflects on this pivotal experience and attempts to make sense of it. She weaves together literature and research with details from her own ordeal--and the still visible scar of her suicide attempt--while also considering her life as part of the larger history of our understanding of depression. In fearless, candid prose, Cregan examines her psychotherapy alongside early treatments of melancholia, weighs the benefits of shock treatment against its terrifying pop culture depictions, explores the controversy around antidepressants and how little we know about them--even as she acknowledges that the medication saved her life--and sifts through the history of the hospital where her recovery began.Perceptive, intimate, and elegantly written, The Scar vividly depicts the pain and ongoing stigma of clinical depression, giving greater insight into its management and offering hope for those who are suffering.
Marrow
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2017 Books for a Better Life Award Winner: Inspirational Memoir The author of the New York Times bestseller Broken Open returns with a visceral and profound memoir of two sisters who, in the face of a bone marrow transplant--one the donor and one the recipient--begin a quest for acceptance, authenticity, and most of all, love. A mesmerizing and courageous memoir: the story of two sisters uncovering the depth of their love through the life-and-death experience of a bone marrow transplant. Throughout her life, Elizabeth Lesser has sought understanding about what it means to be true to oneself and, at the same time, truly connected to the ones we love. But when her sister Maggie needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life, and Lesser learns that she is the perfect match, she faces a far more immediate and complex question about what it really means to love--honestly, generously, and authentically. Hoping to give Maggie the best chance possible for a successful transplant, the sisters dig deep into the marrow of their relationship to clear a path to unconditional acceptance. They leave the bone marrow transplant up to the doctors, but take on what Lesser calls a "soul marrow transplant," examining their family history, having difficult conversations, examining old assumptions, and offering forgiveness until all that is left is love for each other's true selves. Their process--before, during, and after the transplant--encourages them to take risks of authenticity in other aspects their lives. But life does not follow the storylines we plan for it. Maggie's body is ultimately too weak to fight the relentless illness. As she and Lesser prepare for the inevitable, they grow ever closer as their shared blood cells become a symbol of the enduring bond they share. Told with suspense and humor, Marrow is joyous and heartbreaking, incandescent and profound. The story reveals how even our most difficult experiences can offer unexpected spiritual growth. Reflecting on the multifaceted nature of love--love of other, love of self, love of the world--Marrow is an unflinching and beautiful memoir about getting to the very center of ourselves.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
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Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman's compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest. ______ Lia Lee 1982-2012 Lia Lee died on August 31, 2012. She was thirty years old and had been in a vegetative state since the age of four. Until the day of her death, her family cared for her lovingly at home.
Illness As Narrative
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For most of literary history, personal confessions about illness were considered too intimate to share publicly. By the mid-twentieth century, however, a series of events set the stage for the emergence of the illness narrative. The increase of chronic disease, the transformation of medicine into big business, the women's health movement, the AIDS/HIV pandemic, the advent of inexpensive paperbacks, and the rise of self-publishing all contributed to the proliferation of narratives about encounters with medicine and mortality. While the illness narrative is now a staple of the publishing industry, the genre itself has posed a problem for literary studies. What is the role of criticism in relation to personal accounts of suffering? Can these narratives be judged on aesthetic grounds? Are they a collective expression of the lost intimacy of the patient-doctor relationship? Is their function thus instrumental--to elicit the reader's empathy? To answer these questions, Ann Jurecic turns to major works on pain and suffering by Susan Sontag, Elaine Scarry, and Eve Sedgwick and reads these alongside illness narratives by Jean-Dominique Bauby, Reynolds Price, and Anne Fadiman, among others. In the process, she defines the subgenres of risk and pain narratives and explores a range of critical responses guided, alternately, by narrative empathy, the hermeneutics of suspicion, and the practice of reparative reading. Illness as Narrative seeks to draw wider attention to this form of life writing and to argue for new approaches to both literary criticism and teaching narrative. Jurecic calls for a practice that's both compassionate and critical. She asks that we consider why writers compose stories of illness, how readers receive them, and how both use these narratives to make meaning of human fragility and mortality.
No Time Like the Future
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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A moving account of resilience, hope, fear and mortality, and how these things resonate in our lives, by actor and advocate Michael J. Fox. The entire world knows Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future; as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties; as Mike Flaherty in Spin City; and through numerous other movie roles and guest appearances on shows such as The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Diagnosed at age 29, Michael is equally engaged in Parkinson's advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the world's leading non-profit funder of PD science. His two previous bestselling memoirs, Lucky Man and Always Looking Up, dealt with how he came to terms with the illness, all the while exhibiting his iconic optimism. His new memoir reassesses this outlook, as events in the past decade presented additional challenges. In No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, Michael shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality. Thoughtful and moving, but with Fox's trademark sense of humor, his book provides a vehicle for reflection about our lives, our loves, and our losses. Running through the narrative is the drama of the medical madness Fox recently experienced, that included his daily negotiations with the Parkinson's disease he's had since 1991, and a spinal cord issue that necessitated immediate surgery. His challenge to learn how to walk again, only to suffer a devastating fall, nearly caused him to ditch his trademark optimism and "get out of the lemonade business altogether." Does he make it all of the way back? Read the book.
Out of the Crazywoods
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Out of the Crazywoods is the riveting and insightful story of Abenaki poet Cheryl Savageau's late-life diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Without sensationalizing, she takes the reader inside the experience of a rapid-cycling variant of the disorder, providing a lens through which to understand it and a road map for navigating the illness. The structure of her story--impressionistic, fragmented--is an embodiment of the bipolar experience and a way of perceiving the world. Out of the Crazywoods takes the reader into the euphoria of mania as well as its ugly, agitated rage and into "the lying down of desire" that is depression. Savageau articulates the joy of being consort to a god and the terror of being chased by witchcraft, the sound of voices that are always chattering in your head, the smell of wet ashes that invades your home, the perception that people are moving in slow motion and death lurks at every turnpike, and the feeling of being loved by the universe and despised by everyone you've ever known. Central to the journey out of the Crazywoods is the sensitive child who becomes a poet and writer who finds clarity in her art and a reason to heal in her grandchildren. Her journey reveals the stigma and the social, personal, and economic consequences of the illness but reminds us that the disease is not the person. Grounded in Abenaki culture, Savageau questions cultural definitions of madness and charts a path to recovery through a combination of medications, psychotherapy, and ceremony.
Never Give Up
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Tedy gives you something to believe in. Whether we're winning or losing, he holds his head high, and he knows himself and handles himself so well, others can't help but follow him. The way he practices and plays forces you to become a better teammate; the way he demands hustle and toughness forces you to become a better leader; and the way he carries himself inspires you to become a better person. This made his return to playing on October 30 against Buffalo all the more electrifying. The stadium was louder that night than the nights we had raised our Super Bowl banners. Our captain, our leader, our inspiration was back on the field doing what he loved to do. Tedy had spent months rehabbing, had countless doctor visits, and had undergone hundreds of tests trying to play again. Just eight months after our victory in Super Bowl XXXIX, here we were celebrating a much bigger victory on our home field. Sure it was great to win the game, but that night we were celebrating Tedy's return as he showed us teammates, fans, family, and friends what it takes to become victorious in life. You might be coming to this book as a fan of Tedy's football skills and, don't get me wrong, gaining the insights of one of the best defenders in Patriots history is worth the price of admission, but that's just part of the story. There are a lot of reasons to look up to him, and I promise you will finish this book with an admiration for him on a much deeper level. --Tom Brady (from the Foreword)
Little Panic
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In the vein of bestselling memoirs about mental illness like Andrew Solomon's Noonday Demon, Sarah Hepola's Blackout, and Daniel Smith's Monkey Mind comes a gorgeously immersive, immediately relatable, and brilliantly funny memoir about living life on the razor's edge of panic. The world never made any sense to Amanda Stern--how could she trust time to keep flowing, the sun to rise, gravity to hold her feet to the ground, or even her own body to work the way it was supposed to? Deep down, she knows that there's something horribly wrong with her, some defect that her siblings and friends don't have to cope with. Growing up in the 1970s and 80s in New York, Amanda experiences the magic and madness of life through the filter of unrelenting panic. Plagued with fear that her friends and family will be taken from her if she's not watching-that her mother will die, or forget she has children and just move away-Amanda treats every parting as her last. Shuttled between a barefoot bohemian life with her mother in Greenwich Village, and a sanitized, stricter world of affluence uptown with her father, Amanda has little she can depend on. And when Etan Patz disappears down the block from their MacDougal Street home, she can't help but believe that all her worst fears are about to come true. Tenderly delivered and expertly structured, Amanda Stern's memoir is a document of the transformation of New York City and a deep, personal, and comedic account of the trials and errors of seeing life through a very unusual lens.
Wasted Updated Edition
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A classic of psychology and eating disorders, now reissued with an important, and perhaps controversial, new afterword by the author, Wasted is New York Times bestselling author Marya Hornbacher's highly acclaimed memoir that chronicles her battle with anorexia and bulimia. Vivid, honest, and emotionally wrenching, Wasted is the memoir of how Marya Hornbacher willingly embraced hunger, drugs, sex, and death--until a particularly horrifying bout with anorexia and bulimia in college forever ended the romance of wasting away. In this updated edition, Hornbacher, an authority in the field of eating disorders, argues that recovery is not only possible, it is necessary. But the journey is not easy or guaranteed. With a different ending to her story that adds a contemporary edge, Wasted continues to be timely and relevant.
Starving in Search of Me
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#1 Amazon New Release ─ The true confessions of an eating disorders survivor This confessional self-help guide explores the complex emotional truth of what it's like when food, weight, and body image take priority over every other human impulse or action. Activist author Marissa LaRocca's revelatory tale includes her struggle with her secrets, including sexuality, and how she emerged as an outspoken advocate for gay rights and women's health issues. Anorexia and bulimia health crisis: Many young women and girls struggle with the body image issues that engender eating disorders with elaborate rituals around food, binging, purging, and hiding it all while trying to maintain a face of normalcy to the world. Anorexia and bulimia have become major national health crises with skyrocketing statistics indicating that between 3 and 5% of the population suffer anorexia nervosa alone. Sadly, many never attain the sense of being "normal" and deal with a lifetime of body image and self-esteem issues. Coming of age story of a woman battling for self-esteem: This intimate account of courage and the search for truth and meaning will have you rooting for Marissa LaRocca as she unravels the emotional layers of her own battle with food, body image, and sexuality. Readers of this riveting memoir, Starving in Search of Me, will relate to the coming-of-age story of a young woman confronting some of life's major issues while living, for a time, in two closets: one to hide her eating disorder and one to hide her sexuality and very identity. What You'll Learn Inside This Book: Identify the root causes, symptoms, and triggers associated with an eating disorder Acknowledge the "life issues" that are being masked by "food issues" or another addiction Disempower compulsive behaviors like binging, purging, and obsessing about calories and exercise Heal your relationship with food through healing your relationship with yourself Escape the victim role, become empowered, and take responsibility for your own happiness Connect with your life's purpose and authentic self, transforming your weaknesses into strengths Free your mind through tuning in to the body and witnessing emotions Improve your body image and self-esteem by aligning your lifestyle with your true values, desires, and what is realistic Effectively communicate your needs with confidence Establish guilt-free lifestyle boundaries to reduce anxiety and maximize vitality Enhance peace of mind by developing a reliable support system Eliminate the need to be perfect by practicing forgiveness and compassion toward yourself
Salt in My Soul
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The diaries of a remarkable young woman who was determined to live a meaningful and happy life despite her struggle with cystic fibrosis and a rare superbug--from age fifteen to her death at the age of twenty-five "Captures the heartbreaking beauty of being alive."--Beck Dorey-Stein, New York Times bestselling author of From the Corner of the Oval Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of three, Mallory Smith grew up to be a determined, talented young woman who inspired others even as she privately raged against her illness. Despite the daily challenges of endless medical treatments and a deep understanding that she'd never lead a normal life, Mallory was determined to "Live Happy," a mantra she followed until her death. Mallory worked hard to make the most out of the limited time she had, graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, becoming a cystic fibrosis advocate well known in the CF community, and embarking on a career as a professional writer. Along the way, she cultivated countless intimate friendships and ultimately found love. For more than ten years, Mallory recorded her thoughts and observations about struggles and feelings too personal to share during her life, leaving instructions for her mother to publish her work posthumously. She hoped that her writing would offer insight to those living with, or loving someone with, chronic illness. What emerges is a powerful and inspiring portrait of a brave young woman and blossoming writer who did not allow herself to be defined by disease. Her words offer comfort and hope to readers, even as she herself was facing death. Salt in My Soul is a beautifully crafted, intimate, and poignant tribute to a short life well lived--and a call for all of us to embrace our own lives as fully as possible. Advance praise for Salt in My Soul "This is a deeply moving book full of wisdom about health, life, and love--and about the importance of finding happiness wherever and whenever we can. It broke my heart but also inspired me to make the most of every day."--Will Schwalbe, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club "A beautiful, brave, unsparingly insightful account of a courageous girl who becomes a woman warrior and fights for her life while living it fully."--Eric Lax, author of The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat
Dying
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At the age of sixty, Cory Taylor is dying of melanoma-related brain cancer. Her illness is no longer treatable: she now weighs less than her neighbor's retriever. As her body weakens, she describes the experience--the vulnerability and strength, the courage and humility, the anger and acceptance--of knowing she will soon die.Written in the space of a few weeks, in a tremendous creative surge, this powerful and beautiful memoir is a clear-eyed account of what dying teaches: Taylor describes the tangle of her feelings, remembers the lives and deaths of her parents, and examines why she would like to be able to choose the circumstances of her death.Taylor's last words offer a vocabulary for readers to speak about the most difficult thing any of us will face. And while Dying: A Memoir is a deeply affecting meditation on death, it is also a funny and wise tribute to life.
The Power of Two
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For most people, a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis means the certainty of a life ended too soon. But for Isabel Stenzel Byrnes and Anabel Stenzel, twin girls with the disease, what began as a family's stubborn determination grew into a miracle. The tragedy of CF has been touchingly recounted in such books as Frank Deford's Alex: The Life of a Child, but The Power of Two is the first book to portray the symbiotic relationship of twins who share this life-threatening disease through adulthood.Isabel and Anabel tell of their lifelong struggle to pursue normal lives with cystic fibrosis while grappling with the realization that they will die young. Their story reflects the physical and emotional challenges of a particularly aggressive form of CF and is an honest and gripping portrayal of the daily struggle associated with long-term hospitalization, the impact of chronic illness on marriage and family, and the importance of a support network to continuing survival. Born in 1972, seventeen years before scientists discovered the genetic mutation that causes CF, the Stenzel twins endured the daily regimen of chest percussion, frequent doctor visits, and lengthy hospitalizations. But in the face of innumerable setbacks, their deep-seated dependence on each other allowed them to survive long enough to reap the benefits of the miraculous lung transplants that marked a turning point in their lives: "We have an old life--one of growing up with chronic illness--and anew life--one of opportunities and gifts we have never imagined before." In this memoir, they pay tribute to the people who shaped their experience. These two remarkable sisters have much to teach about the power of perseverance--and about the ultimate power of hope.
Brain on Fire
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NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CHLOË GRACE MORETZ A "captivating" (The New York Times Book Review), award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is a powerful account of one woman's struggle to recapture her identity. When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she'd gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled as violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened? In an "unforgettable" (Elle), "stunningly brave" (NPR), and breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family's inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that almost didn't happen. "A fascinating look at the disease that...could have cost this vibrant, vital young woman her life" (People), Brain on Fire is an unforgettable exploration of memory and identity, faith and love, and a profoundly compelling tale of survival and perseverance.
Dying to be me : my journey from cancer, to near death, to true healing
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"In this truly inspirational memoir, Anita Moorjani relates how, after fighting cancer for almost four years, her body--overwhelmed by the malignant cells spreading throughout her system--began shutting down. As her organs failed, she entered into an extraordinary near-death experience where she realized her inherent worth, and the actual cause of her disease. Upon regaining consciousness, Anita found that her condition had improved so rapidly that she was able to be released from the hospital within weeks, without a trace of cancer in her body! Within these pages, Anita recounts stories of her childhood in Hong Kong, her challenge to establish her career and find true love, as well as how she eventually ended up in that hospital bed where she defied all medical knowledge. As part of a traditional Hindu family residing in a largely Chinese and British society, she had been pushed and pulled by cultural and religious customs since she had been a little girl. After years of struggling to forge her own path while trying to meet everyone else's expectations, she had the realization, as a result of her epiphany on the other side, that she had the power to heal herself, and that there are miracles in the Universe that she had never even imagined. In Dying to Be Me, Anita freely shares all she has learned about illness, healing, fear, "being love," and the true magnificence of each and every human being! This is a book that definitely makes the case that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. and that we are all One!"
Analog #1 Dispatches on DIY Anorexia Recovery
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Violet's account of struggling with anorexia is both intensely personal and articulately political. Analog #1 includes a critical approach to western medicine without thwarting the desire to change and heal; typical frameworks for eating disorders are challenged and expanded with resourceful and open-ended strategies.
The Father
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Author writes about his father dying of lymphatic cancer and the effect it had on him.
Functionally Ill 23: Ulcer
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Author discusses getting really sick and being diagnosed with an ulcer. This is their experience in the hospital and beyond dealing with recovery.
Locked Treatment Facility for Adolescents
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This zine is about psych hospitals and mental illness.
trigger warnings:
- explicit discussion of suicide
- abuse mentions
- self harm mentions
- reclaimed ableist language
Ova-Achiever: Excerpts From My Ongoing Journey Through Baby-Making Science
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This zine is created primarily of excerpts from the blog the author has kept over the last few years. The author has been trying to get pregnant since June 2010 and this is her journey through infertility.
Resilient Bastard: Ways To Combat A Brain That Is Actively Trying To Kill You
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Resilient Bastard is a much-needed zine of writers being very open and honest about depression, suicidal thoughts, and tools for coping. Within: stories, exercises, collages, poems, and chances to breathe.
The intention of this zine, as editor Meg Martin says in the introduction, is "to figure out how other people stay alive and to normalize the fact that people deal with suicidal thoughts and actions every day. People we know, people we love and people we think would never think that in a million years are contemplating this shit every day and often by themselves."
Sick: A Compilation Zine On Physical Illness
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Sick collects peoples' experiences with illness in order to help establish a collective voice of those impacted within radical/left/DIY communities. The zine is meant to be a resource for those who are living with illness as well as those who have not directly experienced it themselves. Contributors discuss personal experiences and topics such as receiving support, providing support, and being an informed patient. These writings are meant to increase understandings of illness and further discussion as well as action towards building communities of care.
Think About the Bubbles #8: Trust the Knife - A Frac/tion of a Story of Post-Traumatic Growth
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Holy shit, this zine is an ah-mazing account of a hard, hard journey. The issues of Hatton's Think About the Bubbles zine we've carried at the Quimbystore prior have all been small doses of strategic positivity and this issue has that plus a tremendous account of growth and survival. Hatton opens her life to us and takes us through a diagnosis with cancer, treatment and all its mental rearrangement, navigating medicine without insurance, depression, substance abuse, attempting suicide, homelessness and gradual restructuring, restabalizing and recovering. Hatton's writing is visceral and honest, satisfyingly snarky but also full of power and realization. Oh yeah, and it's visual and beautiful...a photo of grafitti on the back cover does a fantastic job summarizing it's humor and reality, "Joyce was here after a really stupid & boring battle with breast cancer" ...Really great zine, a tough path through a rough time. -
Trauma Castle II: Tales of Trauma + Healing Adventures
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In the second issue of Trauma Castle, Billy share stories about getting help for mental health, the mental health medical system, hospitalisations, forced confinement, living in a shelter, but also adventures in relationships to healing and striving.
Illustrated & text heavy
Content warning: mention of childhood abuse, sexual assault, forced confinement, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, self-harm.