Facts You Might Not Know About Mental Health
Did you know that in 2022 it was estimated that 1 in 5 adults in the United States suffers from some type of mental illness?
Would you be surprised to learn that mental illness is observed to be more prevalent in women than in men?
What about the fact that your chances of suffering from a mental illness is even higher if you are between the ages of 18-25?
That means that women between the ages of 18-25 are statistically shown to have the highest rates of observed mental illness in the United States.
And that’s only considering the cases that are reported.
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki
Once I learned these facts, I felt compelled to bring awareness of this book and the absolute joy that reading it has brought to me.
Baek Sehee’s book I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki has been a treasure trove of insight and emotion, and I truly feel like every girl in her 20s should give it a read.
If you, like me, are a young person who struggles with their mental health, this one’s for you.
*note: Affiliate links may be used in this blog post. I may receive a small amount through purchases made through my affiliate links. Check out full disclosure for more details* Also, I’m not a doctor, just a girl who has struggled herself.
How I Stumbled Across this Book
I had this book on hold in Libby for weeks before I got a chance to read it. And imagine my surprise when I found out that I finished this book on Mental Health Day! (Oct 10th)
Baek Sehee’s book has gained so much notoriety for its depictions of and discussions centered around mental health. It truly deserves all the accolades it has received and more.
I was so moved by this book that I purchased a copy for myself immediately upon finishing it. In the future, I know I will call upon it as a reference when I’m going through a tough time.
I read this book on the Libby app but you can also pick it up on Amazon.
That being said, all thoughts expressed are entirely my own.
Synopsis and Thoughts
You meet the author during the beginning of her journey with therapy. The book is largely a collection of transcriptions taken from her therapy sessions. During these sessions, we gain insight into the author’s thoughts regarding her mental health and self-esteem.
Being someone who has struggled with depression most of their life, I related to many of the author’s feelings. Especially in how I “torture myself” with my own thinking sometimes.
She describes so many feelings that felt like they came from my own brain. I have forced myself into thinking for hours to determine the source of the problem: “Why am I like this?”
What stands out the most is when she describes her difficulty with thinking and viewing herself in extremes. And I know so many other women who can relate to this as well.
Introspection and Facing my Own Thoughts
I greatly appreciated reading her conversations with her therapist and her reflections on these conversations. She really drops so many gems throughout this book that I wouldn’t know where to begin in listing them.
But I will share one of my favorite thoughts pertaining to those of us who suffer from “rational thinking”.
Summarizing, “Rationality can be just as much of a plight as depression.”
In other words, you can force specific thoughts onto yourself so strongly that you only succeed in making yourself miserable.
“Am I too this, or too that?”
“This person couldn’t possibly accept me for me, so I need to act like this for them.”
“I’ll never be good enough.”
“I’m a failure and a disappointment.”
Ding, ding, ding! Ever heard of mom guilt or eldest daughter syndrome?
Internalizing these thoughts and feelings is the true definition of torturing oneself.
And I also know, as many others do, that you can’t simply just say “Don’t think that way!”. The battle against mental health is one that many of us fight our entire lives.
Final Thoughts
I would encourage anyone struggling with their mental health to first seek therapy if that is at all an option for you. And secondly, to give this book a read as it genuinely did help me.
Read it on Libby like I did, or you can grab it on Amazon. You won’t find a more valuable 200 pages anywhere else on the internet. Put it on your TBR List, it’s worth it.
To end off, I’ll leave you with this: We are all different but we are also all the same in many ways. There is nothing new in this world that you can go through, and you can always find someone to share your thoughts or your troubles with who has gone through it as well.
Another rough quote from the book:
“You will have good days and bad days. The darkness is necessary to experience the light.”
I hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to the rest of the holiday season.
Until next time <3.
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