Hormonal: A Conversation About Women's Bodies, Mental Health and Why We Need to Be Heard - Softcover

Morgan, Eleanor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349011397 ISBN 13: 9780349011394

Publisher: Virago, 2019

Synopsis

'The essential hormone handbook . . . it should be made part of the core curriculum up and down the land' STYLIST

'Both fascinating and a huge relief' GRAZIA

HORMONAL explores everything from contraception to PMS, in relation to anxiety, depression and taboos about hysteria and the 'hormonal' woman. It is a compelling portrait of the modern landscape of women and health, showing us how to navigate stigma and misinformation.

Combining her own experiences with extensive research and expert contributions, Eleanor Morgan explores the relationship between the female body, the female mind and the ways in which women's bodies are being medicalised. As Morgan argues, we've gotten better at talking about mental health, but we still shy away from discussing periods, miscarriage, endometriosis and menopause. That results in a lack of vital understanding for women, particularly as those processes are inextricably connected to our mental health; by exploring women's bodies in conjunction with our minds, Morgan urges for new thinking about our health.

'Filled with wisdom and wit and brilliant insight' Amy Ferris, author of Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis

'Hormonal feels like an essential guide in helping us truly understand our cores' VOGUE

About this title

Review

Morgan peels away the mysteries of hormonal changes while stating clearly how long these discussions have been silenced. It's both fascinating and a huge relief to take this fresh look at our innermost selves in the company of a wise and kind voice (Grazia)

The joy of Eleanor Morgan's guide is just how revealing and informative it is . . . she has created a go-to manual that also acts as an understanding of our minds as well as our bodies - how hormones can affect your self-belief, anxiety levels, confidence and beyond. An essential read for all adults, it should also be made part of the core curriculum up and down the land (Stylist)

A must read for all generations and genders (iNews)

"There is power in knowing ourselves better," writes Eleanor Morgan in her second book. Power through knowledge is precisely what she sets out to give the readers in this exploration into the myriad ways the body affects the mind. From a refresher course on the menstrual cycle to the societal and cultural ways in which women's bodies are controlled, Hormonal feels like an essential guide in helping us truly understand our cores (Vogue)

Really interesting - about understanding women's reproductive health and reclaiming the h-word from its connotations of madness and hysteria (India Knight Sunday Times)

An urgent page-turner connecting the thread between the author's own reproductive history and the cultural, political, and social factors that convince women their bodies are up for grabs, Eleanor Morgan makes a convincing case for calling out the patriarchal systems that substitute the word 'crazy' for real care. Reading Hormonal should be a rite of passage for every woman who wants to relearn her body and reclaim her self (SHEILA HAMILTON, Emmy Award-winning journalist, author of All the Things We Never knew: Chasing the Chaos of Mental Illness, and host of the podcast Beyond Well)

Hormonal is a thoroughly researched book on women's bodies and women's emotions, our moods and our physical memories. A topic that should never go out of style, especially in a time when our reproductive rights are being overturned and horrifically discarded, Eleanor Morgan has written and created a definitive road map for all of us. Filled with wisdom and wit and brilliant insight, Morgan covers everything from menstruation to menopause to the #MeToo movement, from PMS to PMDD to PTSD, from dietary supplements to dietary issues to hormonal replacement therapies. To quote Morgan, 'It is in our capacity to inquire, analyze, look around and ask for better that we are most powerful.' Eleanor Morgan has done just that (AMY FERRIS, author of Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis and editor of Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue)

A powerful and beautifully written account of Morgan's experiences with anxiety and depression, and a rigorously researched examination of why they happen and how they can be managed. As well as speaking to fellow sufferers, Morgan consults psychiatrists, psychologists, OCD specialists, gastroenterologists and nutritionists, and bones up on Kierkegaard, Freud and Hippocrates (the latter was the first to describe a patient with social anxiety).It is with a mixture of humanity and clear-sightedness that she analyses genetic and environmental influences, trauma, hormones, fertility, parenthood, medication, social stigma and language, all the while linking back to her own stories and those of fellow sufferers. In assuming the dual role of memoirist and investigative journalist, Morgan gradually comes to terms with her own anxiety disorder. She offers no firm answers or miracle cures, and is careful to remind us that, when it comes to mental illness, no two cases are the same. Her willingness to share what so many others strive to keep hidden, to thoroughly demystify her condition, is courageous and compelling (Guardian on Anxiety for Beginners)

This fusion of memoir and scientific investigation is very accessible . . . with a generous dollop of humanity (Irish Times on Anxiety for Beginners)

It is galling to read [in Hormonal] how often women's pain is dismissed. But it is the mental anguish caused (in part) by hormones that is the essence of Morgan's work. Anyone who suffers from PMS will find the relatability has you almost levitating with relief (Metro)

Book Description

A personal investigation into women's hormones, periods, #MeToo and hysteria. An empowering mix of feminism, memoir, psychology and biology, determined to give women control over their own bodies.

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0349011397
• ISBN 13: 9780349011394
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256