Speaking Our Minds: An Anthology of Personal Experiences of Mental Distress and its Consequences

Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Front Matter....Pages 1-2
Agoraphobia: Letting Go....Pages 3-8
Afraid to Live and Afraid to Die....Pages 9-15
A Survival Story....Pages 16-22
The Pressure of Being a Human Chameleon....Pages 23-27
I’ve Lost My Innocence....Pages 28-30
Silent Scream....Pages 31-33
Finger Pickin’ Good....Pages 34-34
I Suffered from Depression....Pages 35-38
Unplanned Journey....Pages 39-41
Front Matter....Pages 42-43
Two Accounts of Mental Distress....Pages 44-50
Recovery at Home....Pages 51-53
Schizophrenia from the Inside....Pages 54-55
Challenging Loss of Power....Pages 56-62
ECT is Barbaric....Pages 63-65
Choosing ECT....Pages 66-70
The Right to be Informed....Pages 71-72
Prozac Really isn’t That Great....Pages 73-76
Front Matter....Pages 77-78
Thunk Among the Jolly Bunks....Pages 79-81
Ward....Pages 82-83
By Definition....Pages 84-88
Front Matter....Pages 77-78
Therapy Room....Pages 89-89
Why We Run for Cover....Pages 90-90
Good Stories and Stereotypes....Pages 91-94
Leaving Carstairs....Pages 95-99
Stay Calm and Charm Them....Pages 100-104
Label Removed, but Scar Remains....Pages 105-108
Front Matter....Pages 109-110
I Want to Become Part of My Family Again....Pages 111-115
Paying the Penalty....Pages 116-117
Treading on Eggshells....Pages 118-121
I Don’t Feel it’s Right....Pages 122-123
I Can Get About....Pages 124-124
The Sanctuary in North London....Pages 125-125
A Second Chance for Life....Pages 126-128
I’ve Got Memories Here....Pages 129-130
Nutter to Normal....Pages 131-134
Alienation....Pages 135-135
A Comparative Study of Application Forms for Housing Benefit and an American Express Card....Pages 136-139
Front Matter....Pages 140-141
Time, Faith and Encouragement....Pages 142-145
Healing Through Creativity....Pages 146-148
Dreaming the Absurd....Pages 149-149
Front Matter....Pages 140-141
I Have Found Ways Out of Fear....Pages 150-152
Neurotics at War: Art Therapy....Pages 153-157
Reflections on Therapy....Pages 158-162
Building Relationships....Pages 163-167
It Helped that Someone Believed Me....Pages 168-172
Front Matter....Pages 173-174
What We Want from Mental Health Services....Pages 175-179
What We Want from Crisis Services....Pages 180-183
Who do You Represent?....Pages 184-185
What We Want from Community Psychiatric Nurses....Pages 186-190
Becoming Fully Ourselves....Pages 191-196
We Can Still Find a Way to be Heard....Pages 197-201
Listening in the Asylum....Pages 202-206
Shaking Hands with the Devil....Pages 207-208
What Has Disability Got to do with Psychiatric Survivors?....Pages 209-214
Beyond Rage....Pages 215-216