July 30, 2019

Book Review - Shhh! Don't Talk About Mental Health by Arjun Gupta

Hello Everyone…




Today I am going to Review a newly launched Book - Shhh! Don't Talk About Mental Health by Arjun Gupta
The Title of the book and the three monkeys on the cover page grabbed my attention and I couldn’t resist to give it a read. The author has very neatly presented his thoughts in a very different perspective supported with hard work and research.
People still lack awareness about mental illness and address the mentally sick people  by names like Lunatic, insane, wild, and unstable. The ill-treatment towards those people is still on. Not like the olden days they have not beaten or chained today but the most sophisticated methods have been used. Their family, friends, and society abandon them or keep their distance, which makes them more isolated and tend to harm themselves.
Yashasvi at the age of 19 suffer from clinical depression, and it took him two long years to recover. The story focuses on the history of depression, clique theories, and the mentality of society towards the sufferer. Back in 500 to 1400 CE, people believed that the mind of a mentally ill was possessed by a demon and the priests do lotta this and that’s to get rid of the spirit. In 1247, Bethlem hospital was established in London for the mentally sick, but they were chained, beaten, and experimented on.
The most interesting part of the book is the historical facts about the Mentall Illness, the treatment, the stigmas attached to it and the prejudice.
He also talks about the people in the past, who had brought fruitful changes in  the society. One among them is Clifford Beers, He developed depression and suffered physical abuse, humiliation, and mistreatment, but he overcame and wrote a book. Though he was neither a doctor nor a psychiatrist, his work is highly honoured and he is considered as a father of Mental Health in America.

Mentally depressed person should be treated with utmost love and care which plays a major role in their recovery. If a person didn't get the timely care, and support from their family and friends, they tend to isolate themselves that leads to self-harm. One should need to understand and identify the symptoms of mental illness and get treated immediately..
 The book deals with a notion which is not considered paramount. The difference between mental and physical illness, emotional intelligence, the biopsychosocial model, the role of media and movies played, the stigma and stress comes with the disorder are explained in a subtle language. When the voices in your head become your worst enemy, the pain is unbearable. The emotional outbursts, angriness, and suicidal thoughts make a person more miserable and vulnerable. So instead of telling them to get over with it or get a life, try to understand their situation. Don't ignore, rant, or scold them. Talk to them when they are comfortable and ready. I would recommend this book and Kudos to the Author.


My Rating - 5 out of 5 stars
Publisher - Notion Press
Genre - Psychology
Publishing year - 2019
Language - English
Pages - 203
 


This Book review is a part of  Blogchatter Book review Program