Don’t Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start The Conversation About Mental Health by Kelly Jenson
What does “crazy” even mean? Like Kelly Jensen writes, “crazy” is not a singular or definitive experience. Throughout the collection, we read different voices speak about what crazy is and isn’t to them. Shaun David Hutchinson talks about how we land on definitions for things, and how his depression doesn’t define him. Victoria Schwab tells us about her black hole, and Kristen Bell says she is done staying silent about her all-consuming depression. Something that keeps coming back to me is what one of Adam Silvera’s favourite people told him when he was feeling too defined by his career, “[Return to being] Adam Silvera, human who writes, not writer who humans.” We see how isolating mental illness can feel, but also what community can look like—a friend, a parent, a writer who speaks about your condition, a movie, and so much more.
The collection features soothing purple illustrations by Gemma Correll, Yumi Sakugawa, and S. Zainab Williams. We learn about trichotillomania from Ashley Holstrom, while S. Jae-Jones uses the manic-pixie dream girl trope to speak about bipolar disorder, Jessica Tremaine shares her experience having an eating disorder, and Reid Ewing talks about the various cosmetic surgeries he underwent while navigating body dysmorphic disorder.
Each story is filled with honesty, humour, insight, hardship, and hope. The book is filled with resources that will help you understand and help you feel understood, but it also reminds us that this conversation is only a starting point. Even if you think you may not gain too much from it, I still recommend you pick it up. Mental illness exists on a continuum, and it’s likely we will all feel seen in parts of another’s journey.
I’m re-reading it right now, four years and one psych degree later, and it still has so much to teach me. It is still refreshing, relevant, and comforting. Because that’s what lived experience stories do when they are written and edited with care.
If you enjoyed reading this, also check out 8 of The Best Mental Health Nonfiction For Teen Readers and 8 Books About Doing Nothing To Help Break Free From Hustle Culture.