No Such Thing as Normal: From the author of Glorious Rock Bottom

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Do most of us have balanced and happy relationships, devoid of significant strife and loaded with fulfillment? My inner voice suggests that I may have committed an imaginary crime of a horrible extremity - usually first thing in the morning in a half asleep replay of the day before, my imagination momentarily conjuring up the possible images to accompany the thought.

We may think that normality does exist because of the sizable numbers of people who don’t seek psychological treatment. Bryony makes a great example of humanising her illness - Jareth, of all names - and finding the humour in it.Whether you are just feeling frequently worried and anxious (which, let's be honest, who isn't these days? Bryony Gordon says: "It would be disingenuous of me to say that I no longer care what other people think of me. I have been living with mental ill health since i was a child (i’ll be 50 this year) and the brutally honest, no nonsense, yet compassionate way the author approaches the subject has resonated like nothing has managed to before. As if I was the only one holding the absolute truth and the “right” way of perceiving the world, and anything else was either strange or abnormal.

This is a terrific book and I want to give copies of it to so many people - Emily, Owen and Rhianon. I was still in academia when the pandemic began and it was useful having some mental wellness tips to share with anxious students. Sommige hoofdstukken waren fijn en inzichtgevend, andere hoofdstukken iets minder bruikbaar en sommige stukken heb ik overgeslagen, bijv. Gordon is adamant that you should accept yourself, not try to please others, and 'learn that a healthy relationship is one in which you love each other unconditionally'. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

I have had mental health issues for 17 years and this is the first book I have read that has made a real impact on me. I'm a little uncomfortable with absolute self-acceptance: we live in a society and should be willing to see flaws in ourselves. Gordon also mentions that she started this book in lockdown, which to be honest, I was not surprised to read.