Honestly, that’s exactly what I keep wondering too. The dehumanizing framing was so consistent throughout that it’s hard to imagine no one flagged it—which makes the choice to publish it that way even more telling. Thanks for reading, Amy ❤️
I also wonder—the sensitivity reader might not have been someone with lived experience as a psychiatric inpatient (or too mild an experience) Which isn’t any more forgivable. Or an editor insisted on dialing everything up? In any case, it shows a huge gap in integrity.
Also, in paid clinical trials, there is an awareness of the fuzzy line between compensating “normal” people to take off work regularly and/or endure uncomfortable side effects or procedures, and exploiting poverty, into which many people with disabilities fall. Same for a sensitivity readers, although I hope they are chosen wisely.
I had to look up this author because I'm nosy and have opinions about doctors based on their specialties. (It's not universal, but there's definitely Types of Guy that are attracted to each one.)
First: horrified that this woman lives in proximity to me and of course is an assistant professor at Tufts. Ew. Gross. 0/10. Also not surprised that both of her parents were doctors and that she went to Harvard for undergrad.
Second: shattered that she's basically a physiatrist who helps people with brain disorders regain function. Not only is that an incredibly delicate position to be in as a patient with a vile doctor, but physiatrists aren't generally known to be the raging assholes of the medical field due to their more holistic approaches and proximity to PTs and OTs. What must she think of her struggling patients? Does she find them as disgusting as she clearly does psychiatric patients? Or are their ailments "acceptable" because they're (probably) classified as neurological and not psychiatric? (SO many conditions are under the purview of both, and some have crossed over from psychiatry to neurology as we've gained further understanding of them...)
I'm also just...SO curious about the sensitivity reader. Are they bound by an NDA to not come forward and criticize the book if the author ignored their suggestions? Are they just as unscrupulous as the author herself? Who the hell is this person whose existence and involvement is being used as a shield against critique? I don't know much about the innards of the publishing industry, so maybe some of this is just common knowledge, but sheesh.
I'm grateful for you writing this and speaking out. People, whether professionals or amateurs, are truly their worst selves in the reviews of books involving mental illness. I once read an amazing, gripping graphic memoir (The Third Person by Emma Grove) that had many shit reviews on Goodreads because people had the gall to type "I didn't think the trauma she divulged was bad enough to cause DID" and "it wasn't as dramatic as I wanted it to be given the topic of DID." Who are the real "monsters" here??
That plot sounds deeply disturbing, disgusting, and shamelessly pandering. I don’t read thrillers much because I don’t do well with suspense. I know I’m in the minority, given the amount of violence and sensationalism promoted in various media outlets. I’m so sorry that this book is more jet fuel for inhuman(e) stereotypes. Thank you, again, for sharing.
Thank you—and I’m with you on suspense. There’s a real cost to how casually our suffering gets used as a plot device, and “jet fuel for inhuman(e) stereotypes” is exactly the right phrase for it. Grateful you’re reading.
So, a psychiatrist equates our brains to “crap”. They never ask themselves if psychiatric torture can damage the human brain. And, they dedicate this eugenics “crap” to their patients.
Boycott psychiatry. If you can, be loudly and aggressively “antipsychiatry”. Save your life from these quacks AT ALL COSTS!!!
Thank you for reading. I want to gently say that my own relationship to psychiatry is more complicated than a wholesale rejection—psychiatric care has been part of how I’ve stayed alive, even as I’m clear-eyed about the harms the field has done and continues to do. Both things can be true. I appreciate you being here.
It´s nuanced for sure. I´m the kind of person who is very suspicious of pharmaceutical intervention; it takes a lot for me to go to the doctor. My partner also has schizoaffective disorder and I would love for him to get off all medication. I would love for him to be cured with diet and herbs alone. And perhaps he could be, if only we could find the perfect herbalist and the perfect nutritionist and he was willing to reach the superhuman level of complaince such a program might require. In the meantime, the drugs do help. I wish he could be off them but he can´t be, at least for now, and I´ve made my peace with that.
Is your partner on board with your methods and hopes?
I don’t have schizoaffective disorder, and I don’t have a partner.
I have been on the receiving end of the ‘right combinations of diet and herbal remedies’, from family members, a very different relationship. It comes from a place of love, but isn’t always received that way.
I wish you and your partner the best of health and harmony.
My thinking is that the person with the medical issue has to be in charge of the decisions — this goes whether the remedies in question are “diet and herbal remedies” or pharmaceuticals.
I never read it because it seemed like it would upset me and im glad I didn't. I loved your personal anecdotes of actually living and breathing a person navigating these spaces. My thing is Im not letting her off the hook BUT I think its the conditioning and people like you and I or whoever struggles with these illnesses have to write and retell these stories and experiences which you are doing. I found your art because of your dedication. I think also there are parameters that cannot be grasped due to inexperience and lack of research. This is really heartbreaking but your essays are making waves and informing and really posing questions surrounding this topic and that's just as alluring if not MORE. Sending love ❤️
Yikes! That’s fucking vile.
Kind of wonder if the sensitivity reader raised some of these issues and the author just ignored the feedback.
Honestly, that’s exactly what I keep wondering too. The dehumanizing framing was so consistent throughout that it’s hard to imagine no one flagged it—which makes the choice to publish it that way even more telling. Thanks for reading, Amy ❤️
My other thought was - what if it was even worse before 😬
big yikes
I also wonder—the sensitivity reader might not have been someone with lived experience as a psychiatric inpatient (or too mild an experience) Which isn’t any more forgivable. Or an editor insisted on dialing everything up? In any case, it shows a huge gap in integrity.
I normally wouldn’t publish a pan of a book like this, but I felt it was SO egregious that it might be a useful cautionary tale to other authors
Also, in paid clinical trials, there is an awareness of the fuzzy line between compensating “normal” people to take off work regularly and/or endure uncomfortable side effects or procedures, and exploiting poverty, into which many people with disabilities fall. Same for a sensitivity readers, although I hope they are chosen wisely.
I'm glad you wrote this. The demonizing of mental illness in popular culture needs to stop.
Thank you. It does—and the fact that we still have to keep saying so out loud is part of the problem. Appreciate you being here.
I had to look up this author because I'm nosy and have opinions about doctors based on their specialties. (It's not universal, but there's definitely Types of Guy that are attracted to each one.)
First: horrified that this woman lives in proximity to me and of course is an assistant professor at Tufts. Ew. Gross. 0/10. Also not surprised that both of her parents were doctors and that she went to Harvard for undergrad.
Second: shattered that she's basically a physiatrist who helps people with brain disorders regain function. Not only is that an incredibly delicate position to be in as a patient with a vile doctor, but physiatrists aren't generally known to be the raging assholes of the medical field due to their more holistic approaches and proximity to PTs and OTs. What must she think of her struggling patients? Does she find them as disgusting as she clearly does psychiatric patients? Or are their ailments "acceptable" because they're (probably) classified as neurological and not psychiatric? (SO many conditions are under the purview of both, and some have crossed over from psychiatry to neurology as we've gained further understanding of them...)
I'm also just...SO curious about the sensitivity reader. Are they bound by an NDA to not come forward and criticize the book if the author ignored their suggestions? Are they just as unscrupulous as the author herself? Who the hell is this person whose existence and involvement is being used as a shield against critique? I don't know much about the innards of the publishing industry, so maybe some of this is just common knowledge, but sheesh.
I'm grateful for you writing this and speaking out. People, whether professionals or amateurs, are truly their worst selves in the reviews of books involving mental illness. I once read an amazing, gripping graphic memoir (The Third Person by Emma Grove) that had many shit reviews on Goodreads because people had the gall to type "I didn't think the trauma she divulged was bad enough to cause DID" and "it wasn't as dramatic as I wanted it to be given the topic of DID." Who are the real "monsters" here??
That plot sounds deeply disturbing, disgusting, and shamelessly pandering. I don’t read thrillers much because I don’t do well with suspense. I know I’m in the minority, given the amount of violence and sensationalism promoted in various media outlets. I’m so sorry that this book is more jet fuel for inhuman(e) stereotypes. Thank you, again, for sharing.
Thank you—and I’m with you on suspense. There’s a real cost to how casually our suffering gets used as a plot device, and “jet fuel for inhuman(e) stereotypes” is exactly the right phrase for it. Grateful you’re reading.
So, a psychiatrist equates our brains to “crap”. They never ask themselves if psychiatric torture can damage the human brain. And, they dedicate this eugenics “crap” to their patients.
Boycott psychiatry. If you can, be loudly and aggressively “antipsychiatry”. Save your life from these quacks AT ALL COSTS!!!
Thank you for reading. I want to gently say that my own relationship to psychiatry is more complicated than a wholesale rejection—psychiatric care has been part of how I’ve stayed alive, even as I’m clear-eyed about the harms the field has done and continues to do. Both things can be true. I appreciate you being here.
It´s nuanced for sure. I´m the kind of person who is very suspicious of pharmaceutical intervention; it takes a lot for me to go to the doctor. My partner also has schizoaffective disorder and I would love for him to get off all medication. I would love for him to be cured with diet and herbs alone. And perhaps he could be, if only we could find the perfect herbalist and the perfect nutritionist and he was willing to reach the superhuman level of complaince such a program might require. In the meantime, the drugs do help. I wish he could be off them but he can´t be, at least for now, and I´ve made my peace with that.
Is your partner on board with your methods and hopes?
I don’t have schizoaffective disorder, and I don’t have a partner.
I have been on the receiving end of the ‘right combinations of diet and herbal remedies’, from family members, a very different relationship. It comes from a place of love, but isn’t always received that way.
I wish you and your partner the best of health and harmony.
My thinking is that the person with the medical issue has to be in charge of the decisions — this goes whether the remedies in question are “diet and herbal remedies” or pharmaceuticals.
I never read it because it seemed like it would upset me and im glad I didn't. I loved your personal anecdotes of actually living and breathing a person navigating these spaces. My thing is Im not letting her off the hook BUT I think its the conditioning and people like you and I or whoever struggles with these illnesses have to write and retell these stories and experiences which you are doing. I found your art because of your dedication. I think also there are parameters that cannot be grasped due to inexperience and lack of research. This is really heartbreaking but your essays are making waves and informing and really posing questions surrounding this topic and that's just as alluring if not MORE. Sending love ❤️
Wonderful review. Author is cavalier and demeaning and rude regarding and one locked up. That's a failure to everyone, and especially her!!!