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DAISY audio (CD), DAISY audio (Direct to player), DAISY audio (Zip)
Journals and memoirs, Disabilities, Criticism
Human-narrated audio
Revelatory memoir and cultural criticism that connects popular fantasy and our perceptions of mental illness to offer an empathetic path…
to compassionate care Growing up, K.J. Aiello was fascinated by magical stories of dragons, wizards, and fantasy, where monsters were not what they seemed and anything was possible. These books and films were both a balm and an escape, a safe space where Aiello's struggle with mental illness transformed from a burden into a strength that could win battles and vanquish villains. A unique blend of memoir, research, and cultural criticism, The Monster and the Mirror charts Aiello's life as they try to understand their own mental illness using The Lord of the Rings , Game of Thrones , and other stories as both guides to heroism and agency and cautionary tales of how mental illness is easily stereotyped as bad and violent. Aiello questions who is allowed to be "mad" versus "sane," "good" versus "evil," and "weak" versus "strong," and who is allowed to tell their own stories. The Monster and the Mirror explores our perceptions of mental illness in a way that is challenging and tender, empathetic and knowledgeable, and offers a path to deeper understanding and compassionate care
DAISY audio (CD), DAISY audio (Direct to player), DAISY audio (Zip)
Journals and memoirs
Human-narrated audio
With humour, warmth and heartbreaking honesty, award-winning author David A. Robertson explores the struggles and small victories of living with…
chronic anxiety and depression, and shares his hard-earned wisdom in the hope of making other people's mental health journeys a little less lonely From the outside, David A. Robertson looks as if he has it all together-a loving family, a successful career as an author, and a platform to promote Indigenous perspectives, cultures and concerns. But what we see on the outside rarely reveals what is happening inside. Robertson lives with "little monsters": chronic, debilitating health anxiety and panic attacks accompanied, at times, by depression. During the worst periods, he finds getting out of bed to walk down the hall an insurmountable task. During the better times, he wrestles with the compulsion to scan his body for that sure sign of a dire health crisis. In All the Little Monsters, Robertson reveals what it's like to live inside his mind and his body and describes the toll his mental health challenges have taken on him and his family, and how he has learned to put one foot in front of the other as well as to get back up when he stumbles. He also writes about the tools that have helped him carry on, including community, therapy, medication and the simple question he asks himself on repeat: what if everything will be okay? In candidly sharing his personal story and showing that he can be well even if he can't be "cured," Robertson hopes to help others on their own mental health journeys.