(Don't) Call Me Crazy

(Don't) Call Me Crazy

YA/adult nonfiction
"(Don't) Call Me Crazy is a conversation starter and guide to
better understanding how and where mental health impacts us each and
every day. This is neither a tool for diagnosis nor a medical guide.
It's a pulling back of the curtain and an opportunity to get up close
and personal with mental health. It is by turns intense and raw, as
well as humorous and lighthearted. It showcases a wide range of
experiences as well as the power and eccentricities of each person's
unique mind."
As someone who has experienced depression, left anorexia in the
rear view mirror, and seen stigma stand in the way of loved one's
getting needed help, sometimes with tragic consequences, I am big on
helping to pull back the curtain. I want to live in a world where
seeing a professional for anxiety or depression is no more frowned on
than teaming up with a physician to deal with diabetes or heart
disease. I am out with my experiences in daily life and not reticent
about taking the stage.
When the focus is suicide, as it just was where I just played
the part of a severely depressed student in Tunnel Of Oppression, I
find myself thinking on people I've lost too soon that way. I usually
push their fates out of my mind. But, like in Stephen King's The
Shining, under those circumstances they're back. No wonder I suddenly
found a need to read (Don't) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start The
Conversation About Mental Health edited by Kelly Jenson.
This is an amazing anthology. Thirty-three individuals who have
achieved success in fields ranging from sports to writing share their
candid personal experiences. You'll learn about:
*American born writer Hannah Bae surviving a traumatic childhood, not
understanding that her troubled mother could not seek treatment due to
the stigma surrounding mental illness on her native Korea;
*Memoirist Clint Van Winkle going through experiences most of us would
consider unthinkable as a Marine in Iraq and determining not to let
trauma define him or keep him from being a responsive father to his
beloved daughter;
*Author Mike Jung discovering a name--autism--for the confusions and
struggles of his earlier years;
and *so many other amazing true stories.
I highly recommend this fine book. Even if you aren't in the
one in five people who will experience psychological challenges at
some point in life, chances are you will teach, work with, live near,
be friends with...
...or even love one of us.
Given those odds, it's a pretty good investment.
On a personal note, I am on a road trip with my son, my husband, and
his brother. We are in Augusta at a sportspeople's (It's billed as
sportsmen's. But puh leeze. A lot of the attendees could not be
billed as men by any stretch of the imagination) show. As I wrote
these words, I'm sitting in on a gun auction which is interesting for
a writer with a yen for diverse experiences.
A great big shout out goes out to all who suffer from or fight to
eradicate the stigma our society erects around psychological challenges.
jules hathaway



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