Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses

In this stunning debutboth a memoir and a work of investigative journalismwriter Sarah Fay explores the ways we pathologize human experiences.

Over thirty years, doctors diagnosed Sarah Fay with six different mental illnessesanorexia, major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and bipolar disorder.Pathologicalis the gripping story of what it was like to live with those diagnoses, and the crippling impact each had on her life. It is also a rigorous investigation into theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM)psychiatrys bible, the manual from which all mental illness diagnoses come. Yet as Fay found out, some of our most prominent psychiatrists have been trying to warn us that the DSM is fiction sold to the public as fact.

InPathological, former advisory editor atThe Paris Reviewand award-winning writer Fay calls for a new conversation about mental health diagnosis, one based on rigorous transparency. With exquisite detail and a precise presentation of fact, she digs up her own life at the root to finally ask,Is a diagnosis a lifeline or a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Powerful, mesmerizing, and unputdownable,Pathologicalsits alongside the other brave and inspiring classics of our time that explore a more intelligent, forgiving, and nuanced approach to human suffering.

Hardcover, Mar 29th 2022