Review of Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age

[Nathaniel Owolabi]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age" by Elliott B. Martin, Jr..]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Elliott B. Martin, Jr. is the author of Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age. This is a book that is well described by its title. Martin is a psychiatrist and an ancient language specialist.

Martin tries to educate people with this book. He wrote about several issues related to mental illness, such as identity, suicide, the media (the swarm), Donald Trump's hair (although humorous, he used this to address specific issues regarding the media and the Internet), and many others. Being an ancient language specialist, he also included a bit of history into the mix.

This book contained a lot of personal opinions from the author, alongside some scientifically researched ideas too. It also included references to the information source of some of the written text. Furthermore, the book talks about substance addiction. It explains that some people use alcohol to cope with suicidal thoughts.

I adore this book for its in-depth look at things. It touches on these matters with a profound look beyond the surface. I often appreciated the author's perspective on what he wrote about and how he surprised me with some of the facts he wrote into the book. I found this book quite astounding.

This book is quite good, although it is not exactly the best book around. In several instances, I found the author's writing style very annoying. The author really got on my nerves many times with the way he expressed his ideas. I got confused so many times and had to read through several sentences multiple times.

"As one who has studied the earliest extant written languages it has been my experience, if not yet firm conclusion, drawn from observation and a fair to middling intellect-rather than from review of nonsensical 'randomized clinical trials-that early texts carry a certain pure fascination value, a curiosity, if nothing else, by virtue of their age and utter foreignness." I quoted this from the book to demonstrate the point I made earlier. Besides the punctuation error, this sentence is so unnecessarily confusing and complicated. I had to read it multiple times to understand the message being passed across. However, the problem was not just this sentence. Many more sentences had a similar confusing nature, just like this one. In fact, the following sentence immediately after this one was only slightly better than this one. This was very annoying and made it hard to understand the book.

I recommend this book to intellectuals who have the patience to read through it. Reading this book was really tasking and required patience due to the author's writing style. I did not appreciate this. Although the book had a couple of interesting points, it often got boring, which made me conclude that it is for people interested in the subject academically. I think the book is also suitable for people studying psychology. Having laid these points down, I have to rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.

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Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age
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[Mary Lou Mills]

The title was intriguing, but this sounds like a burdensome read.

[Sarah C McHum]

I would argue that this is a must read book for today's people. Its super beneficial. Even though you've mentioned that its not an easy reading, I'll give it a try later.

[Shivansh_007]

I was intrigued by the title of the book but after going through the review I think I'll pass this one. It seems way to complex for me right now. Thanks for the honest review.

[Mody C]

I always trigger whenever someone mentions mental illness because I feel like I am so stressed these days. Thanks for the review! It sounds like a beneficial reading.

[19blueofficial]

The book's cover really captured me but going through the review was kind of boring. I won't discourage you though.

[Rishi_reviews]

I was attracted to this book by it's title and cover but after reading the review I don't think it my type. Thanks for the honest review.

[Steven Springett]

Having worked in the field for 50 years I am more interested to read after your review. Nothing is static in Health and Mental Health particularly. For example, the criteria for Schizophrenia has changed at least half a dozen times in the last 50 years, but of course, the condition could well be seen as the egg and society the chicken!

[Stephanie Runyon]

I am reviewing this book and I agree it is tasking. I like some of his views but the autism part I disliked since he attributed it to be on the same level as narcissism. As a parent of an autistic child who is now turning 24, I disagree with his analogy based on my personal experience.

[Rodel Barnachea]

"Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age" by Elliott B. Martin, Jr. delves into various mental health issues, examining their intersections with identity, media, and substance addiction. Combining his expertise in psychiatry and ancient languages, Martin provides a mix of personal opinions, historical context, and scientifically researched ideas to educate readers.

[Leen282]

Despite the promising title, it is not a book I will read in this form. The example sentence quoted by the reviewer is indeed complex, and I did not feel compelled to try and read it several times to understand the message. I hope the author considers the feedback and will edit the book to make it more accessible to all readers.

[Abhishek Kumar Gupta]

Thank you for your detailed review. It's clear you put a lot of thought into analyzing Elliott B. Martin, Jr.'s *Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age*. Your insights into the book's depth and the author's unique perspective are valuable. While it’s disappointing that the writing style made it challenging to enjoy fully, your recommendation for intellectuals and psychology students is very helpful. Your balanced critique will definitely guide potential readers in deciding whether this book suits their interests and reading preferences.

[Dheera Kalota]

In this digital age, the mental health issues have changed considerably. Mr Elliott B. Martin' effort to reconceptualized these issues is really admirable.
The review by Nathaniel Owolabi highlights the many positive and negative aspects of the book. Congrats for the review. Thanks BOTD.

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

The sentence you quoted is, indeed, unnecessarily long and convoluted. However, the topic is not only fascinating but crucial in this day and age. And the author seems to have an ability to use humor to get their point across. Thank you for your review!

[Kingkaja26]

Looks like a good book especially for the world today and all the social media available.