It is surprising how much you can get out of a six-week class. There are a lot of courses that I have taken where I sit, listen, and do not think about anything I learned until the next class. I am sitting there because my advisor said I have to be there, so that is the only reason I am taking the class. But with this class, after I was done reading for the day, I would look up things I thought were interesting from the book on the internet. For example, I was fascinated with the chapter on schizophrenia, and after I read about it I searched video clips of schizophrenic people just to watch how they act and talk. I would also talk to my mom for hours diagnosing everyone in my family with the different disorders I was reading about in the book. Although I am pretty sure my sister does have an obsessive-compulsive disorder my mom will not take her to the doctor to find out if I am right. I can say I was never bored with any of the topics; it did not feel like homework to me at all; it just felt like I went to the library and picked up this book for some summer reading.
I also really loved reading this book because it made me feel like I was not alone. I have always been a really anxious person, but last year, my brother was in a motorcycle accident, and he suffered a traumatic brain injury. After that day, it seemed like I was anxious about everything, like driving, being on time, college, the future, and pretty much everything. I told my parents what I felt, and they just brushed it off, telling me it happens to everyone and to think positively. So I just have had to deal with it to not stress my family more with our current situation. But as I read the book I realized that yes it is a common disorder, but not everyone has it. I also learned what anxiety means because I always hear my friends talking about how they have anxiety issues because they got a bad grade or a boy rejected them. Obviously, it is normal to be anxious about that, but that does not mean you have anxiety issues. Anxiety is deeper than that; it is like you live your life around anxiety other than just something you sometimes feel. I also learned that I was not the only one with sleep paralysis, and it actually is considered a disorder. I understand the paralysis part but what I do not understand is the part where when you are in that state of paralysis why are the hallucinations creepy evil things? Why can't they be butterflies and rainbows to make the paralysis part less terrifying?
Although I really enjoyed this book I wish it would talk a little about people around them who are affected and what goes into caring for th...
