Payal Nagpal
Sophie Kinsella, author of the famous Shopaholic series, released her first Young Adult novel in 2015. Finding Audrey was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, is critically acclaimed for being both humorous and poignant, and has a respectable 3.8 stars on Goodreads. The book is a story about fourteen-year-old Audrey who suffers from an anxiety disorder. She was bullied in school, but during the course of the book, she was staying home. She was in therapy with Dr. Sarah – a very helpful yet quirky character, and she was slowly falling in love with her brother’s friend, Linus. While the book did not trace the development of Audrey’s anxiety disorder, it gave a detailed account of how she dealt with it and started recovery. This blog post will discuss the accuracy and portrayal of mental illness in the book, and then look at whether it accomplished Kinsella’s goal of spreading awareness of mental illness in young people.
One of the best features of the book is that it actually delves into the clinical nature of the case in simple – if veiled – ways. It simplifies these concepts and introduces them to young readers. Audrey has a metaphor for the amygdala. She calls it the lizard brain because it’s lizard-shaped but also representative of the animal: it’s the part that makes her freeze up or run away. During her conversations with Linus, there is an indirect reference to the stress-diathesis model. Audrey and Linus establish for themselves that some people are just more prone to anxiety, and when bad things happen, their anxiety skyrockets and the lizard-brain grows really big.
In the book, Kinsella does not offer any explicit mentions of a diagnosis. Audrey goes to therapy and there are mentions of her having mental illness, but there is no mention of a specific illness. This is particularly interesting for a psychology student. The onset of very intense symptoms of social anxiety came with a large, unnamed “incident” (that Kinsella suggested had to do with bullies). This could suggest PTSD. However, flashbacks show that Audrey was always an anxious and nervous child. Therefore, it could be a case of GAD. It is also unclear whether Audrey’s anxiety is specifically a social anxiety disorder or GAD. More interestingly, the manner in which one cannot pin a specific diagnosis on Audrey is more telling of the accuracy of the book in depicting the complexities of mental illness. Mental illness can be very difficult to label and diagnose as people present with wide ranges of symptoms that fit many diagnoses. The fact that Audrey was not pigeonholed into one of those, and then written as a character directly tied to an illness, is what makes her well-rounded.
One of the most problematic parts of the books is Audrey’s relationship with Linus. It is almost seen as a cure for her social anxiety, and presents the idea that love (especially the romantic kind) heals mental illness. The relationship verges on dependency. Not only is this inaccurate, it is also a toxic idea to spread. It causes the glamorization of such “curing” relationships, and does not highlight the fact that being in a relationship with someone with mental illness is a very intense, difficult process. Additionally, the entire progression of Audrey’s recovery is too simplistic in the book. Although there is some mention that Audrey will have to struggle with her anxiety issues for life, she is presented as a “resolved” case in the conclusion. Recovery is seen as a state of mind that one just has to slip into. It shows the therapist taking charge and assigning straightforward methods to fix anxiety. This is untrue because mental illness treatment is complex and tumultuous, and therapists are often told to inform their patients that it can get worse before it gets better.
Although such problems impact the message the book spreads, Audrey’s character somewhat compensates for it. She is well-rounded as a character, and this makes her relateable. It shows that people with mental illness can have personalities outside of their diagnosis. Audrey is funny and quirky, and her internal monologues are snarky. She is a very likeable character – she wins the reader over not by having the reader feel pity or empathy, but by being fiesty and charming. By showing this side of a person with mental illness while also showing the daily struggles and bad days, Kinsella sends the message that people with mental illness are not “different”.
Kinsella does a good job spreading awareness of the issue and ensuring the book provides a strong message. It destigmatizes mental illness, and it also encourages seeking help. Dr. Sarah is portrayed in a positive light, and is shown to be trustworthy and helpful. It sends the message that young people should reach out for help when they are dealing with mental ill health. This stands in stark contrast with the school counsellor in Thirteen Reasons Why, for example, who is shown to be useless – this portrayal could have actually dissuaded people who need help from actually seeking help. Finding Audrey shows that getting help is a good idea because there are some effective professionals. This is important for readers – especially young adults – to know.
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