The Silent Scream: An Anthology of Despair, Struggle, and Hope is put together by Maria Alfieri. There are 10 other contributors to the book using their full names, including myself, and other writing anonymously.
In the introduction, Maria writes:
“It is through our vulnerability that our liberation from our inauthenticity starts. Through honest conversation we break down that fourth wall, which traps us in the illusion of our shame and isolation. We are never alone in our experiences. We are not broken, merely flawed, imperfect and messy, the same as any other human being on this planet. In sharing our stories we can become active observers of our thoughts and feelings, rather than passive passengers of our unconscious behaviours.”
The Silent Scream serves as an antidote to the shame that silence breeds, offering hope in the shared experience of suffering.
The book includes photographs, art, poems, and narratives. I was expecting evocative writing, but I was surprised and impressed by the calibre of the photography. Raw emotions were shown throughout.
A multitude of sources of human suffering appear in the book, including childhood sexual abuse, abusive relationships, suicide (which I wrote about), depression, addiction, cancer, and miscarriage. There is talk of trying to recover from the past, as well as fearing the future with a chronic illness.
There was also hope and optimism, as well as talk about things that helped, like medications and meditation.
A theme of being your genuine self runs through the book. Crystle said in her piece This. Is. My. Truth.:
“And today I am sharing this with you, to show you that you are not alone, that you have no reason to be ashamed and to use your rage to fuel your fire and fight your fight. To be you – unapologetically – and fuck everyone else!”
It’s always interesting to see the words people use to describe their own experiences. One contributor wrote that “If I hadn’t self-harmed, I doubt I’d have coped, and would have probably successfully committed suicide.” Another, writing as a survivor of someone lost to suicide, expresses concern about the term “committed suicide,” and spoke to the stigma that’s associated with being a suicide survivor.
It’s remarkable that a group of contributors can have lived through so much and chosen to turn away from the safety of silence and be vulnerable by sharing their stories and poetry and visual art.
As Maria wrote in her final message, “Like one candle lighting another, our stories spread hope.”
A Silent Scream was actually published earlier this year, but I didn’t read it until now, as I was waiting for the release of the Kindle edition. I hadn’t seen any of the other contributors’ pieces before this, and they were impressive. I’m not just saying that because I’m biased; this is really a great book.
The Silent Scream is available on Amazon (affiliate link). Profits from the sale of this book will go to the charity Heads On (Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust).
You can find my other reviews on the MH@H book review index or on Goodreads.
Managing the Depression Puzzle takes a holistic look at the different potential pieces that might fit into your unique depression puzzle.
Wow, if only I was able to read a book, This one would be it! Maybe 20-30 pages a day? I have such a difficult time with books.
The chapters are all quite short and self-contained, so it would be easy to read just little bits at a time.
I appreciate the encouragement. I’ve written it down on my to do list. 🙂
‘‘This sounds like an excellent book. I can’t wait to take a look at it. It is in silence that pain grows.
Absolutely.
I agree.
Sounds like a great book. I love the fact that photography is a part of it and that people write all of their stories. I mean on different topics. So different and yet is seems like it all comes together beautifully.
Yeah, Maria did a really good job of pulling it together.
Incredible! 🤗 I look forward to reading this book.
“It’s remarkable that a group of contributors can have lived through so much and chosen to turn away from the safety of silence” – That is what I find so encouraging and empowering about books like this, where it’s raw and probably very depressing in parts. I like a little optimism too but only where it’s realistic, not where they say unicorns can fly out of your arse and your depression/suicidal feelings/addiction will disappear. It sounds like this book has got the balance right, and it’s amazing you’ve been a part of making that happen! I’d like to give this one a read.xx
Yeah, no unicorns flying out of arses here 😉
WordPress is seriously pissing me off. It keeps booting me out of my own site.
I’m WordPress.com business plan. Haven’t bothered talking to the “happiness engineers” because that seems like a pain in the ass that’s unlikely to accomplish much. If it’s still a problem by tomorrow I’ll start deactivating plugins, but I’m hoping it’s just one of those weird WP quirks that pop up and then disappear.
Think I’ll definitely have to pick up a copy after payday! Thanks for this 💘