Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

A Funny Book About Horrible Things

I started reading Furiously Happy as soon as I finished Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. I love it THAT much. There seems to be only one person who understands my anxiety better than I understand it, and that person is Jenny Lawson. Also, how awesome is a book that when you casually slip into a conversation with your boss that this is the book that has best help you understand and deal with your anxiety, he goes and buys a copy himself?

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Synopsis

In Furiously Happy, Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea. But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.

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Review

My anxiety is a fairly recent development in my life. And maybe it’s really PTSD, but I’m choosing to go with anxiety. Just about three years ago (it’ll be actually three years on February 9th), my little Prius and I were struck by a tractor trailer on I-80 in Pennsylvania in the middle of a snow storm and I wound up stuck in a ditch, snow on either side, unable to get out of my car. I have never been more terrified in my life. My car absolutely saved my life.

And, I think most people would call this understandable, I started having panic attacks whenever I found myself in a less than comfortable driving situation. Full blown, cannot breathe, cannot feel my hands, feet, or face, panic attacks. Unfortunately, and less understandable to most people, my anxiety about driving started to seep into other (and all) facets of my life. Being diagnosed with allergy induced asthma last February didn’t help matters – now when I have an asthma attack I panic about not being able to breathe, and then I get to experience an asthma attack AND panic attack simultaneously. Isn’t that fun? No, it’s not, and the paramedics who had to try to regulate my breathing will back me up on this one.

Yes, yes, you’re probably thinking: Sarah, you know tons of people in the US suffer from anxiety and depression, right? Yes, your situation is not ideal, but other’s have it far worse. Yes, you’re absolutely right. And for all those people, and me, we have Jenny Lawson. And we are extremely lucky.

While Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny’s first book I reviewed last week, definitely falls into the memoir realm, Furiously Happy, straddles the genres of memoir and self-help. She doesn’t trivialize it any of the mental health issues she experiences, and she doesn’t discount anyone else’s. She doesn’t pretend to be an expert, she simply offers shared experiences. All with wit and humor that is unparelled to anything I’ve read before.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

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