Prozac Monologues

Prozac Monologues is a refreshingly raw and brutally honest look at the trials and tribulations, ups and downs and the rollercoaster of emotions associated with mental health issues, and in particular with regard to Ms Goodfellow bipolar disorder. Given most of us experience such issues in our lifetime or know someone who has experienced such troubles this book serves as a reminder that you are not alone in the struggle. As someone who went through many, many years of misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis in relation to physical symptoms, rather than mental, I can definitely empathise with Willa and feel her pain rise from the pages when detailing the disheartening feelings that come with been repeatedly labelled, stigmatised and prodded and poked for a decade before finally being diagnosed with an illness that somewhat fits your symptoms and even now I'm not fully convinced they got it right.

One thing I hear time and time again is that you shouldn't feel afraid or anxious to come forward and seek professional help should you need it in terms of your mental health and many proclaim you'll not be judged; unfortunately, it still remains that there is a stigma attached to mental health problems no matter where you live in the world. This shouldn't be the case but it is and it stops many coming forward. This isn't a book you enjoy per se but one that is important with its part memoir part self-help guide really having a lot of interesting information to share. I was surprised at the humour throughout but as they say — laughter is the best medicine. My only real gripe, which I probably should've seen coming, was that it was quite chaotic in places but it was apparently written during a time of mania so that makes logical sense.

I commend the author on a unique, insightful and refreshingly sincere look into the life of someone living with bipolar disorder, and I truly hope she continues to thrive now she has the correct diagnosis. Thank you for sharing your story, Willa. Many thanks to She Writes Press for an ARC.

I picked up this book because of my own mental health misdiagnosis and recovery from being treated wrongly for depression for many years, simply because many mental health practitioners can't be bothered enough to even look beyond depression and anxiety for other signs like ADHD, or bipolar as in Willa Goodfellow's case. This is a book, I wish I'd had the guts to write. If you've been diagnosed for a mental illness and haven't gotten better, I bet you'd recognize yourself in this book, whether it's bipolar or something else. Just "hearing" Ms Goodfellow's inner dialogue will remind you that you're not alone.

Actually a quite interesting read. Knowing someone who's dealt with bi-polar as well as studied it I was very interested in reading this book and a lot of it sounded very true the struggle one goes through with being Bi-Polar. The book did get a little long towards the middle and seemed a bit repetitive, although that was necessary upon finishing the book and helped drive home the whole point of it all. I think this is a great read and especially doctors out there should read it as many of them (as talked about in the book) get very quick to submit and throw scripts at people assuming they're just depressed, or anxious or some other BS reason because they're forced or want to get through as many patients as possible. This is a great lesson to listen to your body and for people to listen when people are trying to tell you something.

For anyone who has struggled to find their way through the darkness of depression, this book may be the comradery you've been looking for. Goodfellow speaks with a candor and honesty that is admirable and refreshing. Loved it.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest reviewl.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into crime books and psychological ones too however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different.