Giveaway for Shadows in the Sun By Gayathri Ramprasad
Hey everyone, next week I will be hosting a review for Shadows in the Sun by Gayathri Ramprasad, a wonderful true story about an Indian woman who explores how depression had an impact on her life, and today I'm doing a giveaway of one copy for it! In order to be in a giveaway, you must either live in Canada or America and must leave a meaningful comment on this entry along with your email. Here's a picture and summary of it and the day you'll see the review of this wonderful book is on March 2nd, 2014. The giveaway will be from February 25th, 2014 up until March 8th, 2014
Everyone who struggles with a mental illness, or who knows anyone with depression, anxiety, or any other mental illness, must read this engrossing true story of courage in the face of heartbreaking adversity.”
—Dilip V. Jeste, MD, president, American Psychiatric Association
As a young girl in Bangalore, Gayathri was surrounded by the fragrance of jasmine and flickering oil lamps, her family protected by Hindu gods and goddesses. But as she grew older, demons came forth from the dark corners of her idyllic kingdom—with the scariest creatures lurking within her.
The daughter of a respected Brahmin family, Gayathri began to feel different. �I can hardly eat, sleep, or think straight. The only thing I can do is cry unending tears.” Her parents insisted it was all in her head. Because traditional Indian culture had no concept of depression as an illness, no doctor could diagnose and no medicine could heal her mysterious malady.
This memoir traces Gayathri’s courageous battle with the depression that consumed her from adolescence through marriage and a move to the United States. It was only after the birth of her first child, when her husband discovered her in the backyard �clawing the earth furiously with my bare hands, intent on digging a grave so that I could bury myself alive” that she finally found help. After a stay in a psych ward she eventually found �the light within,” an emotional and spiritual awakening from the darkness of her tortured mind.
Gayathri’s inspiring story provides a first-of-its-kind cross-cultural view of mental illness—how it is regarded in India and in America, and how she drew on both her rich Hindu heritage and Western medicine to find healing.
Everyone who struggles with a mental illness, or who knows anyone with depression, anxiety, or any other mental illness, must read this engrossing true story of courage in the face of heartbreaking adversity.”
—Dilip V. Jeste, MD, president, American Psychiatric Association
As a young girl in Bangalore, Gayathri was surrounded by the fragrance of jasmine and flickering oil lamps, her family protected by Hindu gods and goddesses. But as she grew older, demons came forth from the dark corners of her idyllic kingdom—with the scariest creatures lurking within her.
The daughter of a respected Brahmin family, Gayathri began to feel different. �I can hardly eat, sleep, or think straight. The only thing I can do is cry unending tears.” Her parents insisted it was all in her head. Because traditional Indian culture had no concept of depression as an illness, no doctor could diagnose and no medicine could heal her mysterious malady.
This memoir traces Gayathri’s courageous battle with the depression that consumed her from adolescence through marriage and a move to the United States. It was only after the birth of her first child, when her husband discovered her in the backyard �clawing the earth furiously with my bare hands, intent on digging a grave so that I could bury myself alive” that she finally found help. After a stay in a psych ward she eventually found �the light within,” an emotional and spiritual awakening from the darkness of her tortured mind.
Gayathri’s inspiring story provides a first-of-its-kind cross-cultural view of mental illness—how it is regarded in India and in America, and how she drew on both her rich Hindu heritage and Western medicine to find healing.
A girl that grew up in a society where her illness wasn't even being researched yet must have been difficult, to say the least. It had to have felt to her, like it felt to me when I was undiagnosed. I too had no option to seek help, due to my circumstances. And when I have the opportunity to read this book, I feel I'm going to be inspired by the fact that someone like me can succeed and that consumers of all mental disorders have a chance.
ReplyDeleteIs mental illness a tabu in the US? Society would like to say no, however, that's not the case. In the US, One out of Four Americans has or know someone with a mental illness.
Where as in India, Everyone has or knows someone with a mental illness. In the time that the the story took place, one can imagine just how much of a tabu it was in India. This was partly (as I read above) because: Traditional Indian culture had no concept of depression as an illness.
Being told,”It's all in your head” by her parents... I know is one of the worst feelings you can experience. Unfortunately that is NOT uncommon. People in general don't want to acknowledge that anyone around them may have a mental illness, they are uneducated.
Personally, I feel that mental illness is something that should be looked at like diabetes. They're both illnesses and both need to seriously be monitored and treated. In having a major mental illness, I undoubtedly can relate to at least some of her bout's of insane episode. Digging a hole in your back yard is not very sane....
Although western medicine had started implementing programs for the mentally ill, they were long hospital stays with bazaar and dangerous tests.
Would I choose to be born into the Indian society? Or be tortured by brutal tests? Either way, I wouldn't win.
To be undiagnosed and untreated, Gayathri went through hell; I can contest to that.
In the review, the book mentioned that it provides a first-of-its-kind cross-cultural view of mental illness. That's one of the many points in this book that intrigue me.
Ultimately the knowledge of, the light within, is what I am seeking and I believe this book has that to offer.
This is a qualitative study of factors affecting mental health amongst low-income working mothers in Bangalore, India.
ReplyDeleteSupports what I know about the book.
I found this interesting...
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6874/14/22
jenniferwakefield01@gmail.com
ReplyDelete