I read (or rather inhaled) this book for the Kill Your Darlings bookclub on Twitter this month. Well worth the journey. I'm fascinated by accounts of 'madness' and this one is a particularly elegant and rewarding read. Kate Richards' intelligence (she is a trained doctor and medical researcher), creativity and literate curiosity shines through in the work. The ordered nature of the narrative stands in contrast to the descriptions of complete disorder that make up psychotic episodes. Reproductions of her diary writing are inserted into the pages, adding a very intimate insight into the truly rambling chaos of those times. The 'voices' in Kate's head - and particularly the way they remain hidden and secret for so long - provide narrative traction. This is not just a book that is intellectually interesting - it's a compelling narrative. And it's touching and funny and frightening and horrifying at turns as well.
Kate doesn't shy away from highlighting her distrust of psychiatrists, but it's also clear how greatly she has benefitted from appropriate support at times - and how lucky she was to find a wonderful psychologist to work with. At times she reveals aspects of the medical system that are very depersonalising and horrifying but she doesn't dwell on this angrily (as she and many others might have reason to do!). Instead the focus is on her own recovery and the small steps that make this up. Learning balance, learning what is 'normal', and the account is in the end highly encouraging and inspiring without being in any way saccharine or shying away from the reality about how little is still known about mental illness, how limiting the official diagnoses can be, and what a fine line it can be to stay within appropriate recovery paths.
I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in mental illness and particularly to anyone working in the medical field - it is wonderful and un-'other'-ing the patient. ( )

This is a remarkable account of Kate Richards' journey through mental illness. Kate is highly intelligent, articulate and an excellent writer. She has struggled with profoundly debilitating periods of illness and conveys her experience with deep insight and beautiful, poetic language. While her descriptions of her experience are detailed I don't believe it's ever really possible to fully empathise unless one has had a mental illness oneself. And even then, every experience of mental illness is different. I struggled with a major depressive illness for ten years before finding relief in the correctly prescribed medication. Kate's illness was much more severe than mine but ever so often what she described resonated deeply with me. Those moments pulled me in to her world demonstrating how extraordinary her ability to write is. This book is a must-read for everyone given that so many people in our society will suffer from mental health issues - we'll all come into contact with someone we know who has a mental illness - or we may suffer them ourselves. Kate writing about her mental illness is a courageous thing to do. But we desperately need people to share their experiences so that those who suffer know they are not alone. Fortunately, not everyone will suffer as badly as Kate did, but the more we know about the actual experience of mental illness the more compassionate and supporting we can be of those who do. ( )