Mental illness, is the most prevalent, yet least understood disability afflicting society. Regrettably, it stills carries with it a stigma, especially here in Australia, where we lag, again, behind many other Western countries in both our understanding of, and lack of compassion toward, the multifarious symptoms of the affliction and those enduring it.
Marianne Broug has compiled a volume of interesting stories, drawn from a mixed bag of 17 people with differing mental illnesses and experiences. Broug interviews with a compassionate dignity and personal understanding, affording the interviewees the opportunity to educate readers about the stereotypes and endemic misconceptions of their individual disabilities. The end result is a series of illuminating conversations which are readable, intimate and thought provoking – one would hope. Although the book will be read by mental health sufferers and their loved ones, in a perfect world, it would reach a broader audience.
The commonalities of the interviewees are particularly interesting: there is a prevailing thread of childhood trauma, with creativity and the arts being an important part of self-validation and the negative impact of the mainstream media and the warped perfection it portrays influencing their mindset.
Most striking is the positive terminology some of the interviewees use regarding their suffering. It creates a deeper connection with readers enduring similar circumstances while opening the gift of compassion. The broader community, if only it ceased its morbid self-obsession and listened a moment, might possibly learn something from this latest release on the topic. Wakefield Press RRP $34.95
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