A Dangerously High Threshold for Pain

 by Imani Perry (2023)

In this Audible Original (free to Audible subscribers) 

we see a different side of the respected scholar and 

academic, Perry, one that is both vulnerable and hopeful. 

This is a beautiful story of pain, hope and acceptance, 

Perry opens up about her ongoing battles with lupus and 

Graves disease.

This is a short audiobook, only two hours long, 

but my main comment is wow! There is much 

to learn in this memorable presentation.

 

 

Blood Orange Night

Blood Orange Night: My journey to the edge of madness
by Melissa Bond (2022)

Addiction/Dependance to benodiazepines is important and scary.  It often starts insidiously.  This book is one woman's story and it is important.

From Audible: "Following a doctor’s orders, Melissa takes the pills night after night; her body begins to shut down and she collapses while holding her infant daughter. Only then does Melissa learn that her doctor—like many doctors—has over-prescribed the medication and quitting cold turkey could lead to psychosis or fatal seizures. Benzodiazepine addiction is not well studied, and few experts know how to help Melissa as she begins the months-long process of tapering off the pills without suffering debilitating, potentially deadly consequences."

In spite of what the above says, there is quite a literature on this topic; yet withdrawal is difficult and takes a long time.  This book is an important addition to the literature on dependance to benzodiazepines. This is an iatrogenic process.

Benzpdiazepine withdrawal is complex and deeply misunderstood.  It cannot be compared to any other drug withdrawal. This is an illness brought on by a medication our science barely understands.

I Can't Save You

 by Anthony Chin Quee

This book is a brutally honest chaos narrative.  At times, hard to read there are flashes of brilliance.

Here is the Amazon blurb:
"At first glance, Anthony Chin-Quee looks like a traditional success story: a smart, ambitious kid who grew up to become a board-certified otolaryngologist—an ear, nose, and throat surgeon. Yet the truth is more complicated.

 
As a self-described “not white, mostly Black, and questionably Asian man,” Chin-Quee knows that he doesn’t fit easily into any category. Growing up in a family with a background of depression, he struggled with relationships, feelings of inadequacy, and a fear of failure that made it difficult for him to forge lasting bonds with others.
 
To repair that, he began his own unflinching examination of what it means to be both a physician and a Black man today. What saved him and his sanity was not medicine but storytelling: by sharing stories from his life and career, Chin-Quee learned how powerful the truth can be in helping to forgive yourself and others as you chart a new way forward.

By turns harrowing and hilarious, honest and human, I Can’t Save You is the fascinating true story of how looking within can change you and your life for the better."

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by the obsessive idea that some aspect of one’s body or appearance is severely flawed and therefore warrants exceptional measures to hide or fix it. In BDD's delusional variant, the flaw is imagined. If the flaw is actual, its importance is severely exaggerated. In either case, thoughts about it are pervasive and intrusive, and may occupy several hours a day, causing distress and impairing one's otherwise normal activities. BDD is a somatoform disorder in the obsessive–compulsive spectrum.

Shaina Feinberg is a young filmmaker with BDD.  In her NY Times Opinion video she makes her condition public and examines it with honesty and a wry touch.

 

 

 

 

Twice As Hard

Jasmine Brown, a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania, recently published Twice As Hard, a history of black women physicians in the United States. Before med school, she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford. Her book considers at the social and structural barriers blacks had to overcome to pursue a career in medicine. This was and is especially difficult for black women.

Twice As Hard looks of the careers of nine early black women physicians as the author compares their trials with her own struggles. They, and other black women physicians, helped her to understand what she was up against even today to achieve her dream.

Ms. Brown’s interview on February 15, 2023 by the Bellevue Literary Review can be accessed on You Tube.

 

Raising Lazarus

 by Beth Macy

After reading many books about the Opioid Epidemic, I was not sure I needed to read Raising Lazarus; but I was wrong.

Amazon Review: Beth Macy compels us not to look away from those who are suffering from the opioid epidemic. Her philosophy is reflected in the book’s title, a biblical story about challenging yourself to get uncomfortably close to death in order to witness the miracle of life. But our society rejects this idea, assigning shame and stigma to addiction—and soon the equivalent population of Houston will be dead from opioids. Macy weaves incredible tales of heroic volunteers meeting troubled drug users where they are. She offers a new language to challenge the contempt around drug use—“bupe,” “opioid use disorder”—which she argues is a human condition that cannot be eradicated. There’s no magic wand, and no political party is off the hook. Macy shines by bringing statistics to life with illuminating personal stories, and you’ll leave this book feeling sobered and perhaps inspired by this moment, a “historical opportunity to radically rethink addiction care.” —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor

Macy's book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the epidemic of drug abuse.

The Invisible Kingdom

by Meghan O'Rourke  (2022)

This book is the pathography of a woman with functional somatic symptoms. Pathographies come in three classes, quest, restitution, and chaos. The early part of this book, at least, is a chaos story.

In my opinion, this is an important book; one that is worth studying.

Publisher's summary: A silent epidemic of chronic illnesses afflicts tens of millions of Americans: These are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and unrecognized altogether. O’Rourke delivers a revelatory investigation into this elusive category of “invisible” illness that encompasses autoimmune diseases, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and now long COVID, synthesizing the personal and the universal to help all of us through this new frontier.

DJE's notes on the book  available on request