Real Talk on Mental Health and Neurodiversity

In this clear-eyed, incisive, and often funny book, a bipolar-autistic essayist and law professor introduces readers to the convergence of mental health and bodily autonomy.Using both personal stories and analyses of public events, Dr. Pryal explains the ways bodily boundaries are abused and the mental harm that follows.Included are a surreal, quick-witted tale of Pryal's report of a past sexual assault to her college's Title IX officeafter being hired there as a professor.A grim yet comical story of manipulation by a married professor while Pryal was a student that nearly cost her her degree.A Kafkaesque account of finding herself in a video installation at a major art museum after secretly being recorded by the artist.Also included are smart analyses of high-profile events where sexual assault and mental health are front and center, including the uncovering of Larry Nassar's abuse of gymnasts, the hearings of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the perennial mistreatment of survivors with mental health struggles by the justice system.The relatable stories in Even If You're Broken take readers on a journey of courage and hope and help move us toward a more humane society.Read the IPPY-Gold-winning book that Washington Post bestselling author Kelly Harms calls "Moving, vital, and hopeful."If you enjoy books by Rebecca Solnit and Bren Brown, you will love Even If You're Broken. The 2023 revised and expanded edition features a new introduction and six new chapters."Gives a voice to survivors whose bravery is often overlooked just because they are silent." -BookTrib Magazine"Pryal's evocative essays remind us that there is power and beauty in our imperfect journey." -Andrea Pino, author of We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out"A brave and necessary book." -Washington Post bestselling author Camille Pagn

Higher education is facing a mental health crisis. Life of the Mind Interrupted guides us through it. While calls for improved accessibility and inclusion in the workplace have gained momentum in recent years, for millions of people who are neurodivergent or struggle with their mental health, the quest for acceptance often happens in the shadowsif at all.In this collection of deeply personal yet relatable essays, Dr. Katie Rose Pryal, a bipolar-autistic lawyer, professor, and speaker traces her own journey alongside that of other neurodivergent people in in higher education, and how they faced many challenges. It provides advice for everyone in higher education communities, on topics such as:Quests for accommodationsManaging career fearsCoping with stigmaNurturing allyshipAs hopeful as it is revealing, Life of the Mind Interrupted is an essential addition to the conversation on inclusion of neurodiversity in the workplace and beyond."If you want to understand how higher education is built, and not built, for people with disabilitiesespecially mental healthrelated onesPryal's book is for you." -Book Riot "Pryal writes with a refreshing and raw honesty. A must-read, not just for those in academia." -BookTrib Magazine

Higher education has changedand we have to change with it. The Freelance Academic will show you how.When Katie Pryal started her career in higher education, she did everything rightshe thought.With a law degree, a doctorate, and a federal clerkship, how could her career go off track?But this is higher education in the new millennium. "Off track" is the new normal. So, slowly, she made her own career.In The Freelance Academic, she tells her story and provides an accurate (and sometimes blistering) critique of how higher education has pushed its workforce to the margins and sacrificed student learning.Best of all, she gives plain, practical advice for how to make the career you want, one that uses your strengths, and your creativity, to thrive, including:How to create a sustainable freelance career or side-gigHow to create a professional network that sustains youHow to start writing for popular magazinesWith The Freelance Academic as both a guidebook and a launch pad, you can reclaim your career for yourself.**Winner of the GOLD Foreword INDIES Book of the Year for Careers**"Both a piercing examination of how higher education institutions exploit adjunct faculty and untenured staff and a roadmap that's as practical as it is hopeful." -BookTrib Magazine"A beacon of hope." -Foreword Reviews