Everything is an Emergency audiobook

I have a confession. A confession that I am truly ashamed of, but I think I have made an improvement on over the last few years. I had made a habit of flippantly tossing OCD as a descriptor of things in my daily life. “I just want to get pizza again . . . I must be OCD.”“I prefer to wear polo shirts to work . . . that is so OCD!”“I have to update my Goodreads status every day . . . isn’t that OCD of me?”One day my wife called me out and told me that I should stop saying that. It is disrespectful to people with OCD and minimizes the struggle people with OCD have. She was so right and I am so thankful for the course correction – while every so often I find the words working their way to my mouth, I feel I have done a lot better in not saying it and working to change my mindset so that I am not even tempted to say it.While I have my struggles with anxiety from time to time, I have been able to get a pretty good handle on it. After reading about Katzenstein’s battle with his brain, I consider myself lucky that any issues I have with mental stress are a cakewalk compared to his. Not that I have anything to compare it to as I have not read much about OCD, but I feel that this must be one of the best interpretations of OCD to help those who do not struggle with it understand what it is like. I love how Katzenstein was able to integrate his love of drawing comics with telling his story. At times it is funny, at times serious. You can easily see how humor was a defense mechanism for him and while I was often laughing . . . I had to stop and think about the underlying pain. It is really a striking contrast that adds to the brilliance in telling the story this way.This book does not take very long to read and is very worth it for the message it shares. If you have ever been curious about OCD or, like me, find yourself nonchalantly using the term “OCD” in your life, I think you should give this a try to help put the struggle into perspective.

I finished this book in one sitting since it was a quick read but it is deceptively powerful. The graphic representation of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder was eye-opening, humorous, and a bit heartbreaking. Everything is an Emergency offers insight into some of the struggles faced by someone with OCD, and how learning to deal with different aspects is not a linear path. The author describes his experiences through various lows and highs in short commentary and matching illustrations. This is not a book covering all areas of the spectrum of OCD, however it does show a glimpse into the life of the author and how he struggled with mental illness. Plus I love some dark humor when talking about mental health, which can be found in the visual representations. Thank you so much to Harper Perennial for my gifted copy! Release Date 6/30/2020.

It was actually a few years ago that I discovered my first graphic novel about mental health (Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me) and fell in love. The graphic novel format seems to be perfect for books about mental health and Katzenstein’s book reminded me so much of that one.As a parent to someone who had to be put on meds because they were developing OCD-like tendencies, this book struck a cord. But I don’t think you have to have a personal connection to it to get something from this quick read. I loved the humor and honesty and insight into a side of mental health we don’t see portrayed very often. I appreciated how Katzenstein even addressed the very real fear many of us creatives struggling with our mental health wonder—will I lose my ability to create?I’m so thankful that I was gifted an advanced copy of this one and I highly recommend picking it up when it comes out next Tuesday.

Brilliant!! “ But the problem is that I’ve added significance to my obsession. I’ve taught my brain that the emergency signal it sends with an obsessive thought represents a real danger, and the compulsion I perform my only recourse to stay safe.”“The safest option, then, is to be completely alone. Also, my biggest fear is being completely alone.”“- I’ll protect you from all my anxieties. - I…never asked you to do that?”“At this point it should be clear that I do not KNOW when I KNOW. Neither do you. You may know when you’re confident enough about a decision you’ve made that you aren’t going to waste time ruminating on alternate universes where you made a different choice. If so, you have my sincerest congratulations and also fuck you.”“One lone, little voice says, “Keep going on faith alone. Maybe there’s an ending you can’t yet see.” After a week of the exposure . . . Thanks, lone, little voice. Now I’ve set a precedent. Something that’s always been an emergency can stop being one. I can change the way I feel. I. Can. Change. The. Way. I. Feel.”“All of the self-imposed restrictions on what I could touch, how I could behave, where I could go, what I could do . . . they hurt me all the time, sure. They also ordered my universe.”“ I love New York.I briefly consider that a little kid may walk by my front door, see the bird in the box and pick him up. This will lead to either an Of Mice and Men situation, or result in the kid getting sick. Either way it will be my fault.”

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2020/06/2...Everything is an Emergency is a heartfelt graphic novel by Jason Adam Katzenstein that details his life with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).Katzenstein’s first memories revolve around some common childhood fears, that his parents were able to manage with typical strategies, but these fears became deeper phobias that took more and more managing to control. At first Katzenstein’s phobias could be explained away, but they soon started taking control of his life and his childhood and teenage years were challenging because of his extreme anxiety. He developed OCD tendencies to cope but then became a slave to them. Eventually, he moved to NYC to work as an artist, but his phobias held him back professionally, romantically and affected his relationships with his family members.Katzenstein defined himself as a tortured artist, so he resisted taking medicine thinking he wouldn’t be him anymore, and that it could affect his creativity. However, he needed to push through and break the destructive cycles he was in, so he explored exposure therapy and medication. And by doing so he actually opened himself up to new avenues of creativity, as he wasn’t locked into panic attacks and crippling anxiety.Katzenstein’s artwork in black and white was evocative and surreal at times. Some of his swirling expressive pictures reminded me of The New Yorker editorial cartoons, so it was apropos to find out he has had some of his artwork showcased there. He finds humor in his agony, but it also will give you optimism to see that he has worked through many of his issues and has come out stronger because of it. Thank you to NetGalley for bringing to my attention a graphic novel that addresses mental health issues in a respectful and hopeful way and shows that therapy can be a life-saver.

I don't think I have ever felt more seen in a book than with this little illustrated memoir. This book makes me want to talk about my OCD, something I only do with very close family, and that in and of itself is miraculous. Everyone's experience with OCD varies, but I saw myself in Jason's story and found his struggles, coping mechanisms, and experience with ERP very true to my own experience, even though our triggers differed.It's a beautifully written and illustrated book that should be required reading for people who have loved ones with OCD. If you yourself have OCD and think you can handle reading his experience (it can be very triggering to read about other people's obsessions and compulsions) I really recommend this for you as well. This is also just a really great book if you want to understand what it's like to live as someone with OCD. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions (and experience with OCD) are all my own!

Preface: this is the second “OCD book” I’ve read- the first being turtles all the way down in college. That book was okay. The one thing that still sticks with me was the end when she talks about it getting better and sometimes worse. Anyway, this book was incredible. It made me ugly cry which I do not often do and it also made me laugh at loud which I very very rarely do at books. Honestly if it was a sane/ normal/ cool thing to have a required reading list for people to date you I would have one and it would just be this one book. Do you have OCD? Do you love someone with OCD? Read this book!

I thought this was a super great look into the mind of someone who has OCD. It definitely shows the progression from childhood fears to how it manifests in adults. I love how open and honest authors and people in general are being about their mental illnesses because it allows people to read things like this and go “huh that’s just like me, I’m not the only one”I’d say this is in the same vein as Hyperbole and A Half, so I’d you liked that one check out this one!

This memoir in comics shares the author's story about dealing with OCD. He begins with details about his childhood fears and struggles, and continues chronologically through to the present day, in which he is able to live a far more peaceful and functional life because of medications and exposure therapy. I found aspects of his story very relatable from my experience, even though I have a different primary sub-type than he does and definitely didn't connect with his stories about doing drugs in college.I have read lots of books and memoirs about OCD, but since this one visualizes the experience through art, it is very unique. I enjoyed the interesting perspective and the dramatic, impressionistic art depictions of intrusive thoughts, anxiety types, and internal feelings. I really enjoyed this, and even though I wouldn't have appreciated it very much when I most needed it, given the occasional innuendo, vulgar language, and many, many uses of the f-word, I enjoyed reading it as an adult. This is a great book for fellow OCD sufferers to read and connect with, and I would also recommend it to people who are interested in understanding mental health issues, like graphic memoirs, or have a family member or friend with OCD.

This book takes a brutally honest look at someone who has a mental illness that started presenting itself when he was a child. It starts when the author and main character is little and starts to realize that he has some fears that his parents need to soothe for him. This progresses as he gets older into more common OCD behaviors such as being obsessively clean and germaphobic. As he gets older he explains how the illness ebbs and flows, how sometimes he is great and other times something small will send him into a spiral. I really enjoyed the specific details he shared about how these spirals play out and how after working with a doctor he starts to mange his illness. I would recommend this book to anyone who has experienced this illness or who has a friend who has. It is a inside look at mental illness that is lighthearted but still honest and thought provoking. We all could learn a lot from a book like this.

Jason Adam Katzenstein paints a vivid portrait of what it's like to have OCD. There are a few little places where the narrative is a bit disjointed (mostly around his romantic relationships, and who can blame him for not wanting to dwell on those? I'm just nosy and interested in more details), but overall it's a really good depiction of his specific experience with OCD. A quick, compelling read.