Shhh!
Don’t Talk about Mental Health
Why Being Quiet is no longer an option
By Arjun Gupta
This book is not a self-help book per se. It is more of an eye-opener. It does not say one story, it says many, and it uses those stories to put forward great ideas that most of us must have thought about in our lives at one point or the other. Recently, I had written an article about some topics that I felt weren’t explored properly in their books. I am glad that this book actually explores one of those topics and that too in a very sensible and thought-provoking manner. In a book of fewer than 200 pages, Arjun Gupta has managed to deliver his ideas and thoughts to the reader in the most elegant way possible.
Very rarely do I read a book that makes me contemplate on its contents for hours on end marveling at the mind of the author. Even rarer are the times when I actually read a book that isn’t academic, with a highlighter at hand. This book explores mental health and the surrounding stigma in the most meaningful and neutral manner as possible from the history of psychology, to explaining the differences between emotional health and mental health, to traditions and factors triggering the minds to act in a certain manner….this book tries to cover it all and at the same time, be readable (which is very important).
The contents are backed by research and references and the case studies used to put points forward are actually relateable in most cases(at least for me). It points out the stigma surrounding mental health in today’s world and the views put forward by different traditions and cultures. The book starts with a case study: The life of Yashaswi. It gives the readers an insight into the life of Yashaswi, an undergraduate degree student. The book then moves on to introduce various viewpoints and key points on psychology and mental health. I won’t say more as I am not as good as the author of the book and I feel like I won’t be doing the book any justice by trying to explain it myself.
Reading this book felt like a learning experience, mainly because it is. It will make you wonder about things that you used to think or things that have crossed your mind before. It will give you an idea about why people act the way they do and more importantly, why you act the you do. It is a book I’d recommend to anyone.
If any of you have read the book before, feel free to post your thoughts below. I am interested in knowing your take on the content.
