My Nonidentical Twin

I started following This Trippy Hippie on TikTok on January of this year (2021). I do not have anyone in my life with Tourettes, nor do I know anyone with Tourettes, but I enjoy learning new things and hearing about other people's lived experiences. 

This book answers so many questions I was curious about, but did not want to ask for fear of being insensitive or rude (In the 90s, it was “Don't ask someone about their conditions!” in 2021, it's “If you're curious, look on Social Media, see if someone is sharing their experiences, watch and listen and learn!”). 

First of all, this book is definitely a biography of Evie, and it was awesome to learn so much about this happy, bubbly, smiley person we see a lot on TikTok! She has been through much more than I had realized, and it really gave background behind some of her videos from September where her body was ‘locking up,' and also gave additional insight into the seizures she has.

Evie writes openly about her own mental and physical health struggles with the goal of de-stigmatizing these issues, and helping other people to feel less isolated and alone. She is such a strong, beautiful woman (both inside and out!). She talks candidly about her severe anxiety, severe depression, and depersonalisation/derealization disorder (wherein the person does not feel like they themselves are real/they do not feel like the world/people around them are real), as well as her paranoia happening at the time (cameras in her teddy bears' eyes and in the bathroom vent. She gives advice on what to do to help people with these issues (remind them they are safe), and what not to do (don't tell them it is not real: their brains are tricking them, and it's not going to do anything good). 

If you are interested in learning more about someone's lived experience with Tourettes, non-epileptic seizures, social anxiety, depression, depersonalization/derealization disorder, and functional neurological disorder (or if you have these yourself, or know someone who does), this is definitely the book for you!