Will You Read This, Please?: Life-changing stories edited by the Sunday Times bestseller

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Edited by Joanna Cannon, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, Three Things About Elsie and A Tidy Ending, the stories told here are powerful, resonant and heart-breaking. This is a ground-breaking and unforgettable collection, shining a light on the stigma and isolation of living with mental illness, while also showing the strength and resilience of the human spirit. It shows that you would appreciate someone’s confirmation. It also suggests that you don’t mind waiting a little bit before they give it to you. Not to relate it their experiences, not to offer help, but to sit in a safe space, and quietly work through each of the cases and be present , take on board what is being said as well as what is becoming increasingly apparent-the mental and physical health services in the UK may be having the best of intentions in providing care at the point of need, however, this does not translate into individualised, person centred care. Confirm” is a simple term. It works well in formal contexts, and it’s the best choice if you’re not sure what else to say in situations like this.

Edited by novelist Joanna Cannon, Will You Read This, Please? is a collection of stories based on twelve peoples' experiences of surviving mental illness and navigating the flawed UK mental health services, as told by twelve bestselling authors. It is striking when reading the remarkably similar accounts of the inpatient experience that admission is often sought and if not sought often welcomed in practice (to me, the small horrors serve to emphasise the extremity of their situation for this to be the case). Evident too is the very long time periods involved - months in hospital, years in recovery, constant vigilance - and the fluidity and imprecision of diagnosis... a story which seems to be about one 'box' turns out to be about another, or many. These are the stories that need to be heard, they are impactful and so important. It shows that mental health stigma still prevails, that patients are misdiagnosed and given drugs for illnesses they don’t have and that sadly the support just isn’t there for everyone that needs it.This is not a book to diminish with the awarding of stars. It's a clear 5 star concept by Joanna Cannon and as each story is the result of a collaboration between a person with lived experience of severe mental ill health and a published writer, it's going to be a mixed bag. Joanna lives in the Peak District with her beloved dog Lewis, where they seem to walk endlessly (if you follow her on social media you’ll know it as ‘ almost Wales’ ). I wonder if some could have done just as well by themselves. Some I am confident could not.... yet... and possibly my question is a tribute to the skill of the established writers. The participants put themselves forward and I am impressed with the selection depicting a wide range of conditions which have had a severe impact on the sufferers' (and they have suffered) lives and on the lives of those around them. More than that we see the relevance of circumstances, how the competence and decency of family, friends, professionals and 'the system' can make a significant difference one way or another and how much misery may have been totally avoidable. Many of the stories touch on the impact of mental illness on the sufferer's family but each account is reassuringly patient-centred. If you have a friend or family member who is suffering, or has suffered with poor mental health, this book may speak to you directly in a way that your loved one perhaps cannot. Often sufferers of mental illness, not wanting to worry those closest to them, or feeling that they will be judged or misunderstood, can mask how unwell they are if there are no obvious physical symptoms. Additionally, in some cultures mental illness still carries a heavy stigma - both Sanmeet and Jen mention feeling isolated because they didn't feel their families would understand what they were going through; to exacerbate the problem, there is often a parallel aversion to 'airing dirty laundry' which means therapy is disapproved of.

In In the belly of the flask, they discuss not only sexuality and gender, but the overlooked link between our physical health and it's relationship to our mental safety - it's a difficult read, but it's a blinding statement that shows we need to treat the whole person, not just one symptom. I am done with being and feeling rejected, unworthy and disposable- and as much as I want to follow my therapists advice, I can’t.To give you some raw examples, when I was breastfeeding he was asking me why I am doing it so much, why I have my breast out, why am I always with my 'tits' out every time he sees me. XXXXXXX has made me feel so insignificant and bad about myself I can only put it into the emotional abuse category.