Book Review - Because We Are Bad: OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought by Lily Bailey
Like 80% through this book I said out loud "thank goodness this woman has OCD or those daycare kids would have been eating apples that rats munched on!" I don't think it's too much to ask to give kids clean and safe food, and I don't think it should have to take someone with OCD to point that out either.
I read this book because I have a loved one with OCD and I was trying to attempt to understand them better. But I listened to part of the audiobook with them and they said they couldn't really relate because their OCD manifested differently. In any case, this book was still interesting.
What strikes me as notable, since I've also read Susannah Cahalan's Brain On Fire this year, is that the people who are able to write these mental health "recovery memoirs" are often from well-to-do families and have good support systems. They are very lucky people because not everyone has access to the type of healthcare and education they receive. I feel like Cahalan mentioned this a bit more than Bailey did in their respective books.
Bailey's OCD manifested early on as a voice in her head constantly dragging her down with intrusive thoughts. But this voice became so familiar that she referred to it as her "friend." Therefore, Bailey frequently refers to herself with we/us pronouns, but doesn't consider herself to have a split personality.
Lots of interesting moments from her girlhood through being a young woman, though she wrote the book in her early 20s so there's a lot that can still happen to her. I wonder if she'll feel the desire to write a follow-up in 10-15 years if circumstances change. I know personally I feel like a completely different person in my 30s than I was in my 20s.
I rate this book 4/5 puppies: 🐶🐶🐶🐶
