by Stacy Pershall,

W.W. Norton & Co., $24.95, 232 pages

Mental disorders are hard to understand to those who do not suffer from them. It’s easy to just write someone off as “crazy” or “weird” when they look or act different. In Loud in the House of Myself author Stacy Pershall shares her story in the attempt to put the reader in the shoes of someone who is effected by a mental disorder. Pershall opens up about her life, detailing her “differences” when she was a child all the way through adulthood. Pershall’s writing is captivating and at times the stories can be very shocking. She clearly documents the struggles of living with a mental disorder and does an amazing job helping the reader understand what it feels like. She documents the ups and downs and is extremely honest in sharing some potentially embarrassing details about her life. I thought this book was incredible. The book is written in a way meant to educate readers who are not familiar with mental disorders. As someone who at times could relate to Pershall and her experiences I still found it shocking at how little I knew about the true effects of mental disorders. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand a personal point of view on the effects of mental disorders.

Reviewed by Nicole Will