The title of this book, edited by Joanna Cannon, has one of the clearest messages for people with, or without, psychiatric disorders, and my response to all those who contributed is – thank you for letting me read this.
When I first opened it, I had some doubts, largely because there were so many contributors. Twelve people with different psychiatric illnesses and experience of services were paired with twelve talented and well-known writers to produce each chapter. At first, I wondered what the role of the writer could really be, but there is something special about a person who listens to words and can then convey them in a way that is easily understood by others. I think that this is what happened in most of these stories, so that they became less of a simple tale and more of a conversation between two people. They are explanations, both by a person and also for that person.
As someone who has experienced severe mental illness, I was cautious, as it can be tempting to over-compare one's own experiences with those of others. I have had both perinatal mental illness and bipolar disorder, so found those chapters especially hard and interesting to read. However, the wide range of stories offered gave a great deal more to think about.
In many chapters, trauma plays a clear role; there are also presentations, such as emetophobia, that might easily be missed by a psychiatrist looking for more usual diagnoses. Other influences, such as cults and gaming, are mentioned and we need to be alert to these, as well as understanding gender. There is a high prevalence of obsessive–compulsive symptoms and it is clear that these are not always obvious unless sought out. This book helped me to learn things about which I knew less.
It is also important to know what treatments people have been offered – or even had forced on them – and what their thoughts were, looking back. Aversion therapy, given to one individual, was appalling to read about, more so when it was acknowledged at the end of the chapter that conversion therapy is still available in the UK.
Ultimately, this was a book of stories about people, not just about their mental illnesses. I think it is this that makes it so compelling, and I am left wondering what happened next to each of them.
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