WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU Eited by Elitsa Dermendzhiyska
Paperback published by Unbound
An explorer spends a decade preparing for an expedition to the South Pole; what happens when you live for a goal, but once it’s been accomplished, you discover it’s not enough? A successful broadcast journalist ends up broke, drunk and sleeping rough; what makes alcohol so hard to resist despite its ruinous consequences? A teenage girl tries to disappear by starving herself; what is this force that compels so many women to reduce their size so drastically?
In this essay collection, writers share the struggles that have shaped their lives – loss, depression, addiction, anxiety, trauma, identity and others. But as they take you on a journey to the darkest recesses of their mind, the authors grapple with challenges that haunt us all.
MY REVIEW
I praise this book, it’s an engaging book that’s extremely well written and has the full support of many readers and a number of patrons. The paperback What Dosen’t Kill You has fifteen short stories of survival by fifteen different kinds of people from authors to an explorer.
This book is edited by Elitsa Dermendzhiyska who does research into mental health. She has spent two years interviewing therapist, psychiatrists, NHS clinicals, and authors.
All the fifteen short stories are important to every writer, who have written short stories through storytelling and personal experience. Mental Health, loss, depression, addiction, anxiety, trauma, are all deeply one who may struggle with one of these, and are carefully woven into a short story.
Lily Bailey the author of We Are Bad OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought has a short story in this book with the title The Lily Show. And top impressionist Rory Bremmer has a short story called ADHD and Me
Every reader will either have their favourite short story or maybe able to identify with a certain topic from one of the short stories.
One of the short stories is about an explorer who spends a decade preparing for an expedition to the South Pole, but once it’s been accomplished you discover it’s not enough. A broadcast journalist ends up broke, and drunk and sleeping rough.
I particularly liked the short story by Kate Leaver, A Disappearing Act about a teenager starving herself. Why do women try to reduce their sizes so drastically? The eating disorder anorexia, is a situation where if without help for someone that clearly needs it sooner or later things can take a turn for the worse and go horribly wrong. It did so for Singers Karen Carpenter and Lena Zavaroni who both suffered with anoxeria. When I was younger I didn’t know the word anorexia, but now thank goodness there is much more written openly and more media attention has been driven by people’s experiences of anorexia and clinical depression.
Also too it’s really good that authors have written short stories on different topics as it must really help someone who maybe struggling alone or who can identify that they too have been through one of the issues and are now over their personal struggle.
Nowadays thankful there are many more people talking openly about their struggles with drinking and mental health etc, that people are facing and with much more written in newspapers and magazines are helping high-light about the pressure people are under, and what factors indicate how or why this sadness of their problems started in the first place. For some people drinking or what ever their problem maybe can have troubled consequences. Talking about these kinds of problems with a good listener will help someone, as a least they know they are not alone in this world and that help is available.
I highly recommend reading What Dosen’t Kill You as everyone of these short stories will grip you and shows the strength of understanding human behaviour with many challenges that we may be able to overcome, by seeking help, or how can we live simply just live with our demons and how we can grow from our wounds and make space for laughter amid life’s tragedies.
My next reason why I am recommending this book is that I honestly have to say that I enjoyed every page and I know you will all do too. It’s impossible not to love these fifteen short stories.
I would like to that the editor Elitsa and unbound publishers for sending me this brilliant paperback yo read and review.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Elitsa Dermendzhiyska is a social entrepreneur working at the intersection of technology, research and mental health. In her twenties she went from stock investing in Washington DC to an technology incubator in Southeast Asia, then joined the rat race in London to build a software business. After burning out, she spent the next two years interviewing therapists, psychiatrists, NHS clinicians, authors, artists and entrepreneurs from South London to Silicon Valley, in a bid to understand why we break and how we mend. Elitsa lives in London and is available for interview and comment, as are various other contributors.
You can find editor Elitsa Dermendzhiyska on her website who has many links to wide range of Subjects.
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