The mental health survival guide

According to the charity Mind, 1 in 4 people in the UK on the average year will suffer a mental health problem. Those numbers can be shocking and what makes it so hard to believe is that it can be an invisible illness. It can be concealed in a way that other illnesses cannot, which can make them all the harder to deal with both as a sufferer as well as a friend or family member of a sufferer.

This is a friendly, simple and comprehensive survival guide for mental health problems. It talks through the many ways this can affect one's life, the ways that it can make you withdraw entirely or engage in self-destructive or reckless behaviour, and how sometimes the most simple activities feel almost impossible. This book does not preach, nor does it come across like a dictatorship, though it reads as though it has been written by a friend who has been in that hole before and knows how to get out of it.

There are a lot of practical tips here, things to know when seeing a doctor and knowing that if a doctor is not taking you seriously then you change your doctor. Activities and behaviours that can help to get you out of a slump and to feel more human. The book is written very simply with good humour and is pleasant to read, though there are some sections that can be difficult though they do carry a trigger warning.

My only reason for not scoring this a 5 was that it felt that this book was unintentionally targeted to female readers, not that male readers were deliberately excluded but some of the activities that could help pull you out of a slump did not feel as though they took men into consideration.

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1 person found this helpful

Very basic advice

Was funny in some parts but was a hard listen when the advice seemed very basic and a bit preachy. Not everyone has a life where you can just stop, seemed aimed at single women.

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Not for me

I just couldn’t finish this. It was basic and unhelpful. I didn’t learn anything.

Yea I know I need to get up, block time, relax the to do list, talk kinder to myself, make sure I put a wash on. But how? The mechanics, the toolkit to get the most simple tasks achieved.

Luckily after many years of depression I have a toolkit but am always keen to learn. This book just didn’t give me that.

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Very Basic Advice

I wish had taken the review I read on here more literally. The advice is beyond basic, it literally tells you to get up in the morning, brush your teeth, make your bed. I listened to part of the first chapter and then skipped through different parts as I thought surely it not all like this, but yes it is.
This may well help some and may well appeal to some people I am sure, that’s great. However, I think it’s only fair that the reader is aware of the contents before using a credit or purchasing. I felt the sample was not a good example of the book itself, the author talks about giving advice, but it’s not until you purchase the book and begin to listen to it that you get an example of the advice, which is very basic such as getting out of bed.
I confess I did not listen to the entire audiobook, but I can confirm the first 2 chapters which last 3 hours in total do consist of this very basic advice.
I do not like to leave bad reviews for books and never have before, as I firmly believe there is always someone who will enjoy the book and I feel the same in this case. I have left two stars for that reason, I hope someone will enjoy it, I personally have not. The reason I am leaving this ‘review’ is purely because I felt the sample does not reflect the book and I was very disappointed to have spent my monthly credit on this book. That will teach me to also read about a book for purchasing as well!
I really really hope that this book does help people out there who are struggling severely with mental health.

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