3. Review MIS(H)ADRA by Iasmin Omar Ata [CC]
I'm like a walking fucking advertisement for Silverstein here What else is new Last week I said I didn't know if I'd do reviews and here I am with a review of a book I honestly don't know how to talk about We'll see how this goes This is Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata It was published by Gallery 13, a Simon and Schuster imprint in October of 2017 This is probably the newest release I will ever review I'm not feeling well so this is going to be a bit of a... All over the place review, but here we are I'm just going to read the back for the summary because that's what I prefer people to do "Isaac wants nothing more than to be a functional college student but managing his epilepsy is an exhausting battle to survive. He attempts to maintain a balancing act between his seizure triggers and his day-to-day schedule, but he finds that nothing, not even his medication, seems to work. The doctors won't listen, the schoolwork keeps piling up, his family is in denial about his condition and his social life falls apart as he feels more and more isolated by his illness.
Even with an unexpected new friend by his side, so much is up against him that Isaac is starting to think his epilepsy might be untreatable." Based on the author's own experience as an epileptic, Mis(h)adra is a boldly visual depiction of the daily struggles of living with a misunderstood condition in today's hectic and uninformed world. And then about the author Iasmin Omar Ata is an intersectional comics artist illustrator, and game designer. Iasmin focuses on creating art centered around themes of coping with illness, understanding identity, and dismantling oppressive structures. I've got kava in this tea, so it tastes kind of gross but it makes me feel better.
First of all with this the artwork is stunning and the author yeah, the author did the artwork as well, so this is all... All by the same person It's really ... I don't know how to flip through this colorful Anyway, the colors are used to kind of flow between seizures and not seizures I don't know how to word that The day to day everything is in these really muted tones and then when the seizures start to hit it starts to get really bright and loud, which is way too real I've certainly felt that Like just walking around in a gray haze and then the seizures, like the auras, starts and everything gets too bright, too ... Too much so, this felt really really accurate reading it There's also knives that show up when the seizures start to show up let me see if I can find it Okay, so here we go I don't know if this is going to focus There are the knives, but this is still kind of like right before it hits and then you see the black and the reds starting there's a couple more pages of that and then it really starts and I never thought I'd see a visual depiction of seizures that was accurate for me but this certainly is and the knives are always in there I can't remember what they're called I read an interview with the author and they explained the significance behind the specific type of knife used there I can't remember.
I'll try to find the interview and link it below where do I start? This really, really digs into the day to day ... What it's what it's actually like living with epilepsy It seems like there's this weird ... People think people hear epilepsy and they think, "Oh, you have doctors. Everybody knows and believes." And then there are some people who hear seizures or see them and they're like, "Oh, it's just anxiety." Like, my family seems to be in denial.
I don't know. My cousin has epilepsy too, and I just ... I don't know what the difference is between us. But my family seemed really surprised when my doctors started treating it as real I was really surprised when my doctors started treating it as real because they told me for well at first I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder because I have olfactory hallucinations which are generally almost always caused by neurologic problems, not psychiatric problems but I had doctors who didn't even bother to to run ...
To do an EEG. Which is a really easy test so for ten years I was on medications that made my seizures worse and then my doctors ... Like I stopped taking them because they ... Just wasn't feeling right don't stop taking your meds cold turkey I'm not advocating that at all I forgot what I was saying and then my doctors, and everybody just said they were anxiety attacks which I do have, but they feel much different than the seizures I can see how they're similar, but ...
For me, I know one from the other because I lived with them for fucking ever so, this tangent this just is a perfect portrayal of that process and how all of that feels to know that your body is betraying you and your doctors are telling you it's one thing that it's not and they just and they have no advice, no nothing and on top of that people think you're lazy for missing things you have seizures while you're out and for me sometimes I get spacey or moody or I snap which doesn't happen often, but if I snap the only reason I ever do that is seizures So, your friends start, you know, disappearing hopefully the good ones stay you miss school, you miss work you can't ... Like you can't stay like when your brain is frying itself, you're just not going to do good work so all of that is in here then somebody in this does show up Isaac finds A friend who just says, "I believe you." "You deserve to be supported." And it's like a life saving moment in this book which, I think everybody should know that that is in real life as well yeah, we're just all sorts of rambly over here this, also, in the back I've not seen a book do this or this is the first one I've seen. I've since ... Bought a couple more it has resources in the back like phone numbers to call for support it has the Epilepsy Helpline a couple of them.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline the Crisis Text Line LGBT National Help Center and Naseeha Muslim Youth Helpline I probably didn't pronounce that right, but there's help in this book within the story and and like actual resources which is pretty amazing It looks like a giant long read. It took me 29 minutes. I'm a bit of a fast reader but I wasn't trying to fly through or anything. It's just looks more intimidating than it is and the title ...
I should have looked this up the h that's in parenthases if you take it out, misadra I think mishadra means seizure I can't remember. I should look it up. But the title has a double play on words you should just read it and look it up for yourself So, I guess my thoughts on this other than ... What I've already said This is just me rambling about my health instead of a book and it's going to continue my seizures are a bizarre kind ...
I don't nobody's ever really seen me fall and convulse on the floor not to say it hasn't happened, I'm alone a lot and I have woken up on the floor, so likely, but who knows most of mine, I start seeing things like Alice in Wonderland everything is too big or too small or too far away or too close I'll stop ... What's the opposite of deja vu? Deja vu is a symptom that some people get I get ... Is it jemais vu? The one where things that are familiar feel foreign so I won't really ... I'll recognize the room that I'm in, but it doesn't feel right and then things just kind of go...
All sorts of weird I was expecting to see the classic what everybody just assumes epilepsy looks like I was worried this was going to be the more typical and believable version of epilepsy and that I was going to be happy that there was something out there for people, but still like wonder what the hell is going on with me this has my weird bizarro types of seizures in it and I was so fucking happy to see that in a book I can not I ... I don't have words for it it was just... Exactly what I needed the neighbors are yelling it also people assume flashing lights are the only seizure trigger, and photosensitivity is one of the more uncommon triggers for seizures like, for me I am a little bit photosensitive but, if I don't sleep, if I don't eat if I'm overly stressed, those are my three biggest triggers or if I'm dehydrated, which... Is in this book as well, it's fucking ridiculous like my doctors don't even believe this half the time but, I live with myself.
I know what's going on. And since I've started taking medication, they've mostly stopped. Who's texting me? This is gonna be too ... I'm gonna hate editing this but ...
I don't know. I hope I covered enough in this. Oh my god the neighbors are yelling please stop The point I was trying to make is if You have seizures and you're still trying to get a good diagnosis and your doctors kind of believe you but don't believe you if you're in any of those gray areas and you're worried about this being just about somebody with a clear diagnosis and all of that dont worry you will find yourself in this I wish I would have had this ten years ago. I would have...
Probably been able to advocate for myself a little bit better or at all. I don't think I ever did. I'm still really bad at it. Anyway, that is Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata highly recommend this I'm not really doing star ratings anymore, but this is all of them the art is great the storytelling's great oh my god the neighbors won't stop yelling highly recommend this for anybody with epilepsy or anybody still getting diagnosed anybody with seizures and nobody's listening or anybody with ...
Who just wants to understand how they actually work and not the stereotypes, or the misinformation flying around so, basically all of you should go out and read this.![3. Review MIS(H)ADRA by Iasmin Omar Ata [CC]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wV5KocBzHNo/mqdefault.jpg)
Even with an unexpected new friend by his side, so much is up against him that Isaac is starting to think his epilepsy might be untreatable." Based on the author's own experience as an epileptic, Mis(h)adra is a boldly visual depiction of the daily struggles of living with a misunderstood condition in today's hectic and uninformed world. And then about the author Iasmin Omar Ata is an intersectional comics artist illustrator, and game designer. Iasmin focuses on creating art centered around themes of coping with illness, understanding identity, and dismantling oppressive structures. I've got kava in this tea, so it tastes kind of gross but it makes me feel better.
First of all with this the artwork is stunning and the author yeah, the author did the artwork as well, so this is all... All by the same person It's really ... I don't know how to flip through this colorful Anyway, the colors are used to kind of flow between seizures and not seizures I don't know how to word that The day to day everything is in these really muted tones and then when the seizures start to hit it starts to get really bright and loud, which is way too real I've certainly felt that Like just walking around in a gray haze and then the seizures, like the auras, starts and everything gets too bright, too ... Too much so, this felt really really accurate reading it There's also knives that show up when the seizures start to show up let me see if I can find it Okay, so here we go I don't know if this is going to focus There are the knives, but this is still kind of like right before it hits and then you see the black and the reds starting there's a couple more pages of that and then it really starts and I never thought I'd see a visual depiction of seizures that was accurate for me but this certainly is and the knives are always in there I can't remember what they're called I read an interview with the author and they explained the significance behind the specific type of knife used there I can't remember.
I'll try to find the interview and link it below where do I start? This really, really digs into the day to day ... What it's what it's actually like living with epilepsy It seems like there's this weird ... People think people hear epilepsy and they think, "Oh, you have doctors. Everybody knows and believes." And then there are some people who hear seizures or see them and they're like, "Oh, it's just anxiety." Like, my family seems to be in denial.
I don't know. My cousin has epilepsy too, and I just ... I don't know what the difference is between us. But my family seemed really surprised when my doctors started treating it as real I was really surprised when my doctors started treating it as real because they told me for well at first I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder because I have olfactory hallucinations which are generally almost always caused by neurologic problems, not psychiatric problems but I had doctors who didn't even bother to to run ...
To do an EEG. Which is a really easy test so for ten years I was on medications that made my seizures worse and then my doctors ... Like I stopped taking them because they ... Just wasn't feeling right don't stop taking your meds cold turkey I'm not advocating that at all I forgot what I was saying and then my doctors, and everybody just said they were anxiety attacks which I do have, but they feel much different than the seizures I can see how they're similar, but ...
For me, I know one from the other because I lived with them for fucking ever so, this tangent this just is a perfect portrayal of that process and how all of that feels to know that your body is betraying you and your doctors are telling you it's one thing that it's not and they just and they have no advice, no nothing and on top of that people think you're lazy for missing things you have seizures while you're out and for me sometimes I get spacey or moody or I snap which doesn't happen often, but if I snap the only reason I ever do that is seizures So, your friends start, you know, disappearing hopefully the good ones stay you miss school, you miss work you can't ... Like you can't stay like when your brain is frying itself, you're just not going to do good work so all of that is in here then somebody in this does show up Isaac finds A friend who just says, "I believe you." "You deserve to be supported." And it's like a life saving moment in this book which, I think everybody should know that that is in real life as well yeah, we're just all sorts of rambly over here this, also, in the back I've not seen a book do this or this is the first one I've seen. I've since ... Bought a couple more it has resources in the back like phone numbers to call for support it has the Epilepsy Helpline a couple of them.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline the Crisis Text Line LGBT National Help Center and Naseeha Muslim Youth Helpline I probably didn't pronounce that right, but there's help in this book within the story and and like actual resources which is pretty amazing It looks like a giant long read. It took me 29 minutes. I'm a bit of a fast reader but I wasn't trying to fly through or anything. It's just looks more intimidating than it is and the title ...
I should have looked this up the h that's in parenthases if you take it out, misadra I think mishadra means seizure I can't remember. I should look it up. But the title has a double play on words you should just read it and look it up for yourself So, I guess my thoughts on this other than ... What I've already said This is just me rambling about my health instead of a book and it's going to continue my seizures are a bizarre kind ...
I don't nobody's ever really seen me fall and convulse on the floor not to say it hasn't happened, I'm alone a lot and I have woken up on the floor, so likely, but who knows most of mine, I start seeing things like Alice in Wonderland everything is too big or too small or too far away or too close I'll stop ... What's the opposite of deja vu? Deja vu is a symptom that some people get I get ... Is it jemais vu? The one where things that are familiar feel foreign so I won't really ... I'll recognize the room that I'm in, but it doesn't feel right and then things just kind of go...
All sorts of weird I was expecting to see the classic what everybody just assumes epilepsy looks like I was worried this was going to be the more typical and believable version of epilepsy and that I was going to be happy that there was something out there for people, but still like wonder what the hell is going on with me this has my weird bizarro types of seizures in it and I was so fucking happy to see that in a book I can not I ... I don't have words for it it was just... Exactly what I needed the neighbors are yelling it also people assume flashing lights are the only seizure trigger, and photosensitivity is one of the more uncommon triggers for seizures like, for me I am a little bit photosensitive but, if I don't sleep, if I don't eat if I'm overly stressed, those are my three biggest triggers or if I'm dehydrated, which... Is in this book as well, it's fucking ridiculous like my doctors don't even believe this half the time but, I live with myself.
I know what's going on. And since I've started taking medication, they've mostly stopped. Who's texting me? This is gonna be too ... I'm gonna hate editing this but ...
I don't know. I hope I covered enough in this. Oh my god the neighbors are yelling please stop The point I was trying to make is if You have seizures and you're still trying to get a good diagnosis and your doctors kind of believe you but don't believe you if you're in any of those gray areas and you're worried about this being just about somebody with a clear diagnosis and all of that dont worry you will find yourself in this I wish I would have had this ten years ago. I would have...
Probably been able to advocate for myself a little bit better or at all. I don't think I ever did. I'm still really bad at it. Anyway, that is Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata highly recommend this I'm not really doing star ratings anymore, but this is all of them the art is great the storytelling's great oh my god the neighbors won't stop yelling highly recommend this for anybody with epilepsy or anybody still getting diagnosed anybody with seizures and nobody's listening or anybody with ...
Who just wants to understand how they actually work and not the stereotypes, or the misinformation flying around so, basically all of you should go out and read this.
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