gimley reviewed Marbles by Ellen Forney
Review of 'Marbles' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I don't believe in mental health. I don't disagree that the phrase "mental health" refers to a category of things which are often preferable to those things which fall into the category "mental illness" but believe this way of categorizing things is ultimately more harmful than helpful.
For one, it makes value judgments look like science. This is the same kind of thinking that in the past created "scientific" racism and "cures" for homosexuality.
For two, it creates an analogy with physical illness that blurs important differences. The worst of these is that there is a "you" separate from the "illness" which can be restored by removing the latter.
This is a topic that requires much more attention than can be given in what is supposed to be a review of a graphic novel but since my point of view differs so completely from that of the author, I have …
I don't believe in mental health. I don't disagree that the phrase "mental health" refers to a category of things which are often preferable to those things which fall into the category "mental illness" but believe this way of categorizing things is ultimately more harmful than helpful.
For one, it makes value judgments look like science. This is the same kind of thinking that in the past created "scientific" racism and "cures" for homosexuality.
For two, it creates an analogy with physical illness that blurs important differences. The worst of these is that there is a "you" separate from the "illness" which can be restored by removing the latter.
This is a topic that requires much more attention than can be given in what is supposed to be a review of a graphic novel but since my point of view differs so completely from that of the author, I have to at least mention it before proceeding.
This is the author's story of her bipolar diagnosis and it's consequences. It's mainly about the mental effects of this physical brain problem and attempts to deal with it on a medical level. Unlike some authors (e.g. [b:The Abyss of Madness|13717985|The Abyss of Madness|George E. Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348634397s/13717985.jpg|19350657]) I'm open to the possibility that bipolar symptoms have a physical component but it's certainly not all there is to it. Like Ms. Forney, I have moods, both manic and depressive ones, but unlike her, I don't have to follow them to their logical conclusions. She says CBT helped her "but only so much" which is, in my opinion, all that CBT can do. This was the extent of her non-physical "interventions." In my opinion, she needs to investigate the force behind some of her internal critics instead of just learning to tell them to shut up, but I'm here to review her, not to treat her.
She is likable and interesting and so are her drawings. She knows how to tell a story. She is honest with us. She is overly naive in her trust of "experts" and their "research" but so are many people, especially when they tell you what you want to hear. (e.g. that your torments are identical in important ways with those of famous creative people.) In the end, I'm glad to hear that she feels less driven, though I wonder how much of that is from merely getting older. I'd read another graphic novel by her.
