''To, The Bravest Person I Know'' is a collection of poems by Indian author Ayesha Chenoy.

Background

This collection of poems offers insight into overcoming various

mental health condition A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

s and issues, including

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

depression (mood) Depression is a mental state of low Mood (psychology), mood and aversion to activity. It affects about 3.5% of the global population, or about 280 million people worldwide, as of 2020. Depression affects a person's thoughts, behavior, feelin ...

, and forms of insecurity. The book can be considered an illustration of

bibliotherapy Bibliotherapy (also referred to as book therapy, reading therapy, poetry therapy or therapeutic storytelling) is a creative arts therapy that involves storytelling or the reading of specific texts. It uses an individual's relationship to the co ...

Reception

Soma Basu, a Deputy Editor at ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' says, "

he author He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

explores the whole construct of ‘normal’, one that is created by society. And, she writes, at the end of the day, it takes bravery to conquer those emotions that make you feel lesser than ‘normal’." In the year 2021, ''The Hindu'' included the book in the list of "8 self-help guides by professionals on leading a healthy life." According to Shraddha Kamdar, Deputy Editor at ''

Femina (India) ''Femina'' (stylized in all caps) is an Indian magazine owned by Worldwide Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Times Group. ''Femina'', the oldest women's English magazine in the country, has been published for almost six decades. It ha ...

'', "The writing might look simple, but it takes a look at the different sides of bravery and what constitutes it, and subtly hints on how societal definitions and constricted norms fall flat when various personal incidents are examined closely." Shrabonti Bagchi, the National Features Editor of ''

Mint (newspaper) ''Mint'' is an Indian business and financial, financial daily newspaper published by HT Media, a Delhi-based media group which is controlled by the K. K. Birla, K. K. Birla family. The K. K. Birla family also publishes ''Hindustan Times''. Min ...

'' suggests, "

he book He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter ca ...

questions the premise of being ‘normal’, and tells the reader that their negative emotions, from fear and anxiety to insecurity and jealousy, are absolutely valid, particularly useful in the Indian context, where people are often encouraged to suppress and dismiss these emotions in favour of a generic and spurious ‘positivity’."

References

2021 poetry books Books about mental health Poetry books Bibliotherapy books Self-help books {{mental-health-stub