Farrar, Straus, and Giroux published strangers to Ourselves in September 2022. Aviv's nonfiction book explores the relationship between culture, society, and how mental illness and how society treats the mentally ill. She does this by telling the story of several people from different backgrounds, including herself (Aviv suffered from an eating disorder when she was young). Each person featured in the book is a fundamentally good person who was changed drastically by their mental illnesses (for some, an eating disorder; for others, depression or Schizophrenia). And many, because of their mental illnesses, become strangers to themselves.
Aviv's book was lauded by both critics and audiences alike. It became an overnight bestseller. Experts also loved the book because they cited the booking as a significant factor in lessening some stigmas that surround mental illness. In their overwhelmingly positive review of Aviv's book, The Guardian wrote that Strangers to Ourselves is "A profoundly intelligent attempt to understand the conflicting stories we tell about psychological distress." The New York Times felt similarly, writing that “Strangers to Ourselves delicately balances two truths that prove remarkably difficult to hold in tandem."
