Review: The Luminous LED Light Treatment That ‘Lifted’ My Mood

I always say that low-mood is the bread and butter of the schizo-spectrum diagnosis and it’s not uncommon for me to take a long time to complete simple tasks or to stay in bed for a few hours in the daytime.

So when I heard that EF MEDISPA’s ‘Luminous Lift’ could improve my mood my interest peaked.

It uses a rainbow of bright lights to improve skin-tone and lift your mood.

So, I recently had a one-off treatment at the Kensington branch. While I didn’t notice any decrease in wrinkles or signs of aging, it did power me through a long weekend down in the Capital (I went on a Friday).

It was very relaxing as I lay under the treatment machine in a small and clinically-impressive room.

I couldn’t see the colours during the treatment but on the outside you could – perhaps like a disco for the mind.

The best colour that works on mood is the blue light which targets the Epidermis; kills infections; helps the healing process and helps combat symptoms of SAD – something I suffer from and which has been particularly bad this winter.

In just thirty minutes I experienced a warm, blushing feeling in my skin which gave me a boost whilst balancing that with the calming effects of having an expert facial.

There’s something about nurturing our appearance that always gives me a lift and I feel any one-off beauty treatment can be good for our mental health – whatever it is. It’s true what they say: “Look good on the outside, feel good on the inside.”

The Luminous Lift gave my skin an instant radiance and, helped put a spring in my step.

Plus, it was a comfortable and relaxing experience, so it is particularly of benefit to people who are reluctant to use aggressive treatments or anxious about invasive procedures.

Of course, it didn’t cure my schizo-affective, and I’ll probably never stop taking my medication to stay well. But the LED Luminious Therapy got me out and about in London for the weekend, which is no mean feat.

Cost: One-off treatment: 150.00

Course of ten: £1,500  (with an extra 3 sessions)

For more information or to book, visit www.efmedispa.com

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Guest Blog: Why Yoga Improves Your Mental Health

Yoga requires a few things that impact and reduce your stress level, says CHERYL MACDONALD, and the first stress-reducing component is breathing.

When we become calm, this stabalizes the functioning of the mind. Many yoga styles have a structured breathing protocol. When you focus on your breathing, it automatically lowers cortisol (a stress hormone) and it lowers your heart rate.

Additionally, yoga requires great focus. Some poses not only ask you to hold your body in a balanced position, they also ask you to pay attention to your body and make slight adjustments to improve the pose. You’re looking inward and focusing solely on your body and the very moment you’re in. This focus reduces stress. It’s akin to meditation and it’s wonderful for the health of your body and your mind.

Top Yoga Tip: Take 10 minutes at the start of each day to focus only on your breath. Close your eyes and focus on the cool inhale and the warm exhale. If any thoughts come into your mind, acknowledge them and then let them go.

There are numerous other yoga health benefits: improved breathing, better posture, and weight loss are just a few more to consider. If you’re looking for a new fitness program to try, you just can’t go wrong with yoga.

Cheryl MacDonald is a yoga elder and founder of YogaBellies women’s yoga school. She has been practising yoga for 20 years and has trained hundreds of yoga teachers across the world. YogaBellies specialize in yoga for women of all life stages from puberty to post menopausal.

For a yoga class near you please visit www.yogabellies.co.uk/findaclass

It’s time to get creative and make a film about mental health on Positively Scottish

 

If you want to change how mental illness is seen and talked about – get into film.

Now’s your chance to steal the limelight in the International Film Competition for the 2017 Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Entries, which are open to global applicants, close on March 31.

One tip for this year’s entries, says producer and film festival curator, Richard Warden, is to capture hearts and minds.

“We’re particularly keen to see films addressing mental health with personality and verve – work that is brave, open, and takes chances. ‘Challenging but accessible’ is one way I put it. But we consider all engaging approaches.”

Now in its 11th year, the competition provides its award winners (and selected other entrants) with the opportunity to showcase their films to festival audiences.

With winning films screened during the Scottish festival in October 2017, and honoured at the International Film Competition awards ceremony, it’s the perfect way to get your work out there and seen by the right people.

Competition is fierce. Last year, the festival received 1600 entries from over 100 countries. Speaking about the mass of global entries, Richard says it’s one of many highlights of his work on the competition. “It’s a privilege to view compelling stories from around the world. We had to start programming beyond just the winners, as there was so much more we wanted people to see. ”

But just by entering your film, you can also be part of the emerging, global discussion about mental health. Claire Lamond’s film All That Glisters won Best Animation in the 2012 International Film Competition, and Sea Front picked up the same award in 2014.

“It’s a fantastic forum to help film-makers and service users addressing important, sensitive issues and I can’t praise enough the political awareness-raising side of it,” says Edinburgh-based Claire (below).

“I know it’s said a lot but we need to talk about mental health: again and again and again and always. The stories that I am drawn to are about people striving to exist and making sense of the world around them. Wee stories about wider society. And this means that mental health often plays a part in the telling of them.”

Claire says film-making and studying creatively has helped her beat her own anxiety and depression; for a time she had to stop work. When she eventually began to recover, she attended Stepping Stones (now replaced by the Alma Project), an arts-based mental health project.

They had a film-maker in residence, Robbie McKillop, and with his support Claire made a feature that won Best Drama in the 2007 Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. “As I recovered more,” says Claire, “the project supported me to go study and I found myself at Edinburgh College of Art.”

For Claire, to have her films recognised in the competition was personally very empowering. “For me it was a testament to the power of art in healing and a personal lesson in the incredible work that arts projects are doing in the area of mental health.

“The actual awards ceremony is an amazing night. It’s such a treat to get to meet a whole pile of film-makers, all with something important to say. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for escapist dramas but that’s not my place,” adds the winning film-maker.

Last year’s winners were shown at the CCA in Glasgow, Edinburgh Filmhouse and other venues, and accompanied by post-show discussions which Richard says is another highlight of his work.

“These conversations can involve film-makers, film subjects, those with lived experience, mental health experts – the audiences are wide-ranging, and the forum is an open one. They’re an opportunity to witness the immediate impact that cinema can have.”

So, what are you waiting for? Go on, enter. Perhaps you too can be an award winning film-maker and start up important conversations about mental health that win hearts and minds across the globe.

For more details on the competition, go here

Guest blog: Mental Health First Aid for children and young people

Theresa May announced recently her commitment to invest in helping schools to recognise mental health issues in their students. A long overdue focus, says NICOLA MARSHALL…

Having seen for the last five years the increase in mental health related issues in schools across the country, it is fair to say we are inadequately resourced to deal with this growing problem in our children and young people.

According to Gov.UK, over ½ mental health problems start by age 14 and 75% by age 18. Amongst teenagers the rates of depression and anxiety have increased by 70% in the last 25 years, and 20% of primary school children suffer from a low sense of wellbeing.

It’s no longer just academic and physical health we have to meet the needs of. There is an ever increasing sense of our children’s emotional needs being neglected. Of course, raising awareness in schools alone won’t change this situation. Our homes and support services need to be strengthened too.

In an average classroom, ten will have witnessed their parents separate, eight will have experienced severe physical violence, sexual abuse or neglect, one will have experienced the death of a parent and seven will have been bullied. – MHFA Website

Frightening statistics. Not just because they are terrible things to experience, but the amount of children and young people this affects. How much more do we need to be aware of the impact of these issues for those pupils within our environments?

The even more worrying fact for me is that our education system and particularly our behaviour management techniques have not evolved over the years to accommodate the change in our students. Children who may have experienced early trauma are still measured against those who haven’t. Zone boards, detentions, exclusions, isolations – all compound the sense of shame, loss and rejection that they already may feel.

When we can move from behaviour modification to relieving anxiety, then maybe we can help and support those struggling emotionally in our schools and colleges.

So what should our response be?

We need to be aware of the mental health issues prevalent and how to meet those needs when we can. There are Mental Health First Aid courses available for educators to train in, of which we are one of the providers in this country through the Mental Health England qualification.

Another positive outcome is to work closer with other services and charities to support our children and their families in whatever way we can. It was encouraging to hear in the PM’s statement that a review of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services throughout the country will take place as part of this focus on mental health.

As an adoptive parent of three and an educator of educators I wholeheartedly agree with Teresa May’s statement below,

For no parent should feel helpless when watching their child suffer. No teacher should feel ill-equipped to deal with a troubled pupil. No teenager should have to leave their local area to seek treatment. No child should ever be left to feel like their life is not worth living

Let’s hope these changes will truly make a difference in this area.

Nicola Marshall is a Founder, Educator, Adoptive Mother & Author. For more information on Nicola’s work visit www.BraveHearteducation.co.uk

Come fly with me – travel with a mental illness

Last year I attempted to board a flight to Ibiza but had to check out last minute due to some mild hallucinations (thinking I could see people from the past). I’ll admit, it wasn’t very well planned on my part – the flight from Manchester airport was on a Friday night and of all the places to visit I’d chosen the party island… well, I hate crowds and rowdy hen parties!

It’s actually not uncommon to fall ill sans flight – there’s been a paper in Psychiatric Times recently that looks into the subject of travelling with a severe mental illness. The paper says that 20% of travel incidents have been described as psychotic and according to WHO severe mental illness constitutes 1-3 main health crisis in air travel.

The stresses, lack of sleep, crowded airports and culture shock are all known triggers for schizophrenia or psychosis. However, I’ve since made successful trips to Barcelona, with my partner, and to Scotland by train, alone.

Here’s some tips that helped me:

MEDICATION, MEDICATION, MEDICATION, THAT’S WHAT YOU NEED!

It’s crucial that medication is factored into travel to prevent relapse. As luggage can sometimes be lost you can take medication in hand luggage to keep it near at all times. For the stay a pharmacy can sort out a scheduled pack of medication for each day. Don’t forget to order any repeat prescriptions in advance to cover your time away.

INSURE FOR THE BEST, INSURE FOR THE WORST

Mind have produced a detailed guide to travel insurance for mental health which is available freely on their website.

RELAX, JUST DO IT!

Try tested ways to relax during, before and after your journey: camomile tea, lavender oils, deep breathing, and listening to soothing music on your headphones all help. When I flew to Barcelona from Liverpool there were even leather recliners with massagers built in to aid relaxation.

WHY EVEN BOTHER TO TRAVEL, YOU ASK?

A holiday abroad or at home has numerous benefits such as achieving goals, hopes and dreams. Learning about new cultures and switching primary identity from service user to tourist.

With tenacious preparations, travel buddies, rest in-flights, plenty of water and avoiding alcohol; travel with severe mental illness is a very real possibility!

Why schizophrenia need not rob us of a life in academia in The Guardian!

After opening up about my mental health problems, I received the help I needed to do my lecturing job well, writes Erica Crompton in The Guardian.

On an autumn afternoon in 2009, I was fired from my job as a university lecturer. I hadn’t declared my schizophrenia on an application form and this was treated as gross misconduct. Many years later, I returned to the lecture theatre – but this time I was open about my condition, to a much more positive response. I learned an important lesson: that if I’m open about living with a mental illness, I can receive the support and help that I need.

I’ve since continued to work and have found it good for developing my sense of self-worth. I’m not alone in experiencing this. Elyn Saks, who also happens to have schizophrenia, is a remarkably high achiever. She first fell ill in 1977 and joined the USC faculty in 1989. She is now a tenured professor of law, psychology and psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law; adjunct professor of psychiatry at the UCSD School of Medicine; and on the faculty at the New Centre for Psychoanalysis.

For Saks, who has also authored a book about her experiences of schizophrenia called The Center Cannot Hold, work has been key to recovery: “When I’m writing an argument or counter-argument, the crazy stuff recedes to the sidelines,” she says. “Work gives me a focus and a sense of self-esteem. And for me it is the last thing to go. As I have come to say, my mind is both my best friend and my worst enemy. Being an academic with schizophrenia has been largely positive.”

She wasn’t open about her condition at first, though. “I was closeted the first two or three years at USC. I then self-disclosed to four people pre-tenure; then another six post-tenure; and of course to the whole school on the publication of my memoir,” she explains. Her story ended up reaching even further when it became an opera.

Working it out

She notes, however, that when it comes to achieving high she is not one of a kind. “People often tell me that I’m unique. But it’s just not true,” she says. For a paper on psychiatric services, she interviewed about 20 people with high-functioning schizophrenia, including high-flying doctors, lawyers and a chief executive. She says: “Our subjects described techniques they’ve developed to manage their symptoms – anything from challenging their problematic thoughts to manipulating their surroundings to engaging with spirituality.”

Stephen Lawrie, professor of psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh, agrees that hiring and working with people with schizophrenia is beneficial to their recovery. Through the Scottish Mental Health Research Network, his department works with people with schizophrenia, and other illnesses, to develop research ideas and projects that would be interesting to and acceptable for patients.

By giving people jobs, employers contribute to an increased acceptance of the condition

Lawrie suggests that work can help people feel useful and valued, while also helping others to appreciate the difficulties facing people with schizophrenia and their strength in the face of adversity. He says: “There are many benefits to employing people with schizophrenia. In general, if anything, people with schizophrenia are more kind, caring and considerate than the general population.”

There is also good evidence from clinical trials, he says, that a scheme called individual placement and support – which gets people into competitive employment with training and support on the job – can help people with schizophrenia get jobs and keep them. “By giving people jobs, employers would contribute to an increased understanding and acceptance of the condition,” he adds.

An example of such inclusive practice can be found at the University of Westminster, which hosts a Recovery College tailored to people living with mental illness. A peer support worker, someone with lived experience of mental illness, will work with professional staff to deliver training programmes to improve lives.

Francesca is one such senior peer support worker. She says working at the university is an opportunity that is beyond any expectations she had when she was unwell: “During my time in hospital I thought a lot about wanting to use my experience as a way of supporting others in future, in order to help them feel understood and less alone. At the time I never thought this role would exist… Doing this work gives me a sense of purpose, and has given meaning to the difficulties that I went through in the past.”

It also ensures she stays on track and practices self care. “I believe that my role keeps me motivated to keep well and look after myself in order to support others in doing the same,” she says. “This responsibility has added huge value to my daily life and future aspirations.”

Spotting the signs

 

Other universities use mental health first aid training courses to equip staff for dealing with mental health crises among colleagues and students. Caroline Hounsell, director of product development and partnerships at Mental Health First Aid England, says: “Academic staff are facing increasing working hours, with less resources, and more demands – which is taking a toll for those working in higher education. Our training seeks to support staff as well as students, because we recognise that both communities are facing unique challenges.”

Hounsell says there is a real need to educate people on how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and how to best support someone who might be experiencing difficulties.

None of this support was in place when I was lecturing and struggling with my own mental health. But I’ve kept in touch with one or two of the students I worked with during my ill-fated lectureship. One told me that I was the best lecturer she had, and her mother even took me out to lunch recently. So it’s important that people with schizophrenia have hope that they can achieve their ambitions and goals – greater recognition among universities of the need for added support is certainly a welcome development.

Join the higher education network for more comment, analysis and job opportunities, direct to your inbox. Follow us on Twitter @gdnhighered. And if you have an idea for a story, please read our guidelines and email your pitch to us at highereducationnetwork@theguardian.com

Hearing Voices: suffering, inspiration and the everyday – a review

Hearing Voices (the exhibition and supporting website) and Hearing the Voice (the interdisciplinary research project which produced the exhibition in collaboration with Palace Green Library) charts the phenomena of voice hearing. The Hearing Voices supporting website (and also at the exhibition) are a detailed and empowering take on an archaic mystery that left me feeling like there’s more to schizophrenia than pills.

Although diagnosed with a psychotic illness, schizo-affective today, I rarely hear voices. I have done in the past, though, but they have always felt a world away from the psychiatric wards on which I’ve spent a little time. For me, the voices I’ve heard have been shared by my mother and have always felt otherworldly, spiritual, like a dream. The idea that these voices are more than just disturbing thoughts for the few is explored in full both at the exhibition at Durham University and on the online portal at hearingvoicesdu.org.

A series of 10-15 minute podcasts, which have a feel of Radio 4 about them, explore voice hearing in every plausible context apart from the gutter press headline-grabbing crime stories in the local paper. Tracing all voices from God speaking to Adam & Eve, to literary greats developing their characters with the added auditory for which novelists are often renowned. All is blended into the study’s plot channelled through predominately academic narrators, with stories from people of the International Voices Movement hemmed into the rich tapestry for good measure.

Many people can find the voices they hear distressing but the spiritual aspect of the study is especially fascinating for me and it’s been helpful locating unusual experiences (less the voices and more the tactile hallucinations) in a holistic context. For instance, I keep a dream journal to help with making the next day’s decisions and for inspiration. I’ve also used the Tarot cards to try and bring new perspectives on tricky problems. And I regularly use Buddhist meditation and Traditional Chinese Medicines for relaxation.

A paper published in Schizophrenia Bulletin this month, looked at the voice hearing experiences of non-help-seeking voice hearers and diagnosed patients with auditory hallucinations. It says that those with negative voices are more prone to a negative reaction or stigma from others and concludes that much can be learned from those hearing voices who don’t have the diagnosis.

[Image courtesy of Rai Waddingham on twitter]

A shift in others’ perspectives on what voice hearing means would be a welcome one. Freelance trainer, consultant, writer, public speaker and trustee for the National Hearing Voices Network, Rai Waddingham, is involved in the Durham exhibition, too. She’s Vice Chair of ISPS UK, Chair of Intervoice and an Executive Committee member of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis. From 2007 – 2015 she managed Mind in Camden’s London Hearing Voices & Distressing Beliefs Projects (including Voice Collective youth project and the London Hearing Voices Prisons Project). She also happens to hear voices. Rai, however, today rejects her psychiatric label and considers herself a ‘survivor’. It’s always great to see co-production in action and for this project she facilitated workshops for young voice hearers.

“No one understands if you try to explain … so you just put up with it”                                         Workshop participant

While this online study and exhibition fully acknowledge how terrifying voice hearing and hallucinations can be, it also looks at the lesser-known and more welcomed attributes to the phenomena. Most of the podcast material is mannered, but this is undoubtedly the correct sane and measured response the voice hearer deserves. I don’t want to be afraid of voices or hallucinations, delusional or otherwise. I might have preferred Radio 5 to Radio 4, but what refreshingly different, distinctive and thorough study this is.

• Hearing Voices: suffering, inspiration and the everyday is on show at Durham University’s Palace Green Library until 26 February 2017. Details of the associated events programme are available at www.hearingvoicesdu.org, and information on Durham University’s interdisciplinary voice-hearing research can be found at www.hearingthevoice.org.

Special edition newsletter for 10th anniversary of Careif

As part of my mental health campaigning, I’ve guest edited a special edition newsletter to help global mental health charity Careif celebrate 10 years!

Today, I’ll be at the House of Lords to meet with peers, psychiatrists and senior mental health figures to talk about Careif and my volunteering to produce the newsletter…

Read the full newsletter careif-newsletter-10th-anniversary

 

The Recovery Colleges Preventing a Mental Health Crisis Published in The Mail on Sunday

• They help patients with anxiety and depression become self-care experts
• There are now more than 30 of the pioneering centres across Britain
• But last month, health chiefs in Essex closed one college despite protests 
• Now, there is concern that other self-help schools may now face same fate

By Erica Camus and Sophie Goodchild for The Mail on Sunday

Recovery ‘colleges’, which help patients with anxiety and depression become self-care experts rather than relying on therapists, are under threat, campaigners have warned.

First launched six years ago, there are now more than 30 of the facilities across Britain, based in community halls, day centres and hospital campuses.

The pioneering centres – funded either by the NHS or charities – provide workshops run by and for those with mental health conditions, including people suffering from long-term illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Recovery ‘colleges’, which help patients with mental health issues, are under threat, campaigners have warned. File photo

However, there is concern that these self-help schools have hit a funding crisis. Last month, health chiefs in Essex closed one college despite protests. Campaigners say others may now face the same fate.

A petition against the axeing of the Mid Essex Recovery Hub and College, which had been running courses in Chelmsford since 2013, raised more than 800 signatures.

But a spokesman for North Essex Partnership Trust, which ran the college, said: ‘The Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group is no longer funding it.’

Clinical psychologist Rosie Beck said recovery courses such as those she helps to run in Manchester can save patients reaching crisis point. She described them as a vital resource for an already cash-strapped mental health service.

Bipolar disorder typically causes sufferers to experience periods of extreme energy or mania, followed by depression. One well-known sufferer is actress Catherine Zeta-Jones (pictured with husband Michael Douglas)

‘There’s no doubt people learn vital skills like relapse prevention,’ said Dr Beck. ‘They empower people in taking charge of their recovery. Learning from peers, others who’ve had a similar experience, is a really major element.’

It was revealed recently that more than 2,000 psychiatric beds have been lost across England since 2011, which represents a 12 per cent decline in the total number available. It also found that seven people had killed themselves since 2012 after being told there was no hospital bed for them.

‘You can’t treat mental health like a light switch – you can’t flick support on and off,’ said Paul Cook, who was a tutor at the closed Essex college. The former City broker credits the facility with helping him recover after he suffered a breakdown several years ago.

‘You can’t use people who are bipolar or suffering from severe anxiety as crash-test dummies, then switch off support and disrupt their lives,’ he added.

Bipolar disorder, once called manic depression, typically causes sufferers to experience periods of extreme energy or mania, followed by depression. One well-known sufferer is Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. She now successfully monitors her own condition and even attends residential clinics when she needs to, to receive ‘maintenance’ treatment.

A spokesman for Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group said: ‘After extending the pilot scheme for a further six months, the CCG has had to face the tough decision of whether to continue with funding.’

An American concept, recovery colleges were first introduced in Arizona in 2000 after a mental health inpatient was forcibly restrained against their will and subsequently complained.

The patient asked that they be able to work with, not against, staff and clinicians for the best outcomes, and requested a less paternal-child relationship with staff.

The first centre to open in the UK was the South West London Recovery College in 2009.

The idea is that the patient works with a tutor – or recovery coach – who has direct experience of a mental health issue.

This model of peer support is already used to help people suffering from drug addiction.

Courses can last half a day or up to six months. The sessions range from life-skills workshops, such as how to manage a budget, through to managing bipolar disorder from the perspective both of a patient and family member.

A GP referral is not necessary before attending a course. However, most of the people signing up for recovery college workshops are already known to the health services and will already be receiving treatment.

Research has shown that recovery colleges can help people develop a more positive outlook on life. More than two-thirds of those taking part said they felt more hopeful about their future than when they started the course.

A follow-up at 18 months also showed that more than four in five had been successful in developing their own ‘self-help’ plan for managing problems and staying well.

And those who attended at least 70 per cent of sessions showed a marked reduction in their use of other mental health services.

In February 2011, the Department of Health commissioned the charity the Centre for Mental Health and the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network to pilot new ways of helping people recover from mental health issues. These included encouraging the development of recovery colleges.

‘Provision is still patchy and not everywhere has invested [in recovery colleges],’ said Andy Bell, deputy chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health. ‘But there is a case for these to be supported on a human and financial level.

‘It’s early days and we can’t say yet that they lead to fewer hospital admissions. But for a small investment we get a lot more out then we do with old-fashioned approaches.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3174333/Facing-axe-recovery-colleges-preventing-mental-health-crisis-hit-funding-crisis-campaigners-warn.html#ixzz3hI8nFigu

Sure of you: book review in the Lancet

 

If home is where the heart is, it makes sense that Pretend Friends is set in a home with a verdant garden, furnished with a picket fence, where conversations take place. It’s a book born of love by author Alice Hoyle and illustrator Lauren Reis. Collaborators include Katy Gray, who has schizophrenia and has consulted on the book. Sale proceeds go to the Rethink Mental Illness campaign to help with their work in reducing stigma and raising awareness of disorders such as schizophrenia among people of all ages. The power of metaphor is used to describe the schizophrenia experienced by Big Jay, an adult, and the imaginary friends of Little Bea, a child. Little Bea wants to make her pretend friends big so Big Jay’s pretend friends—that is to say, distressing hallucinations and delusions—can’t hurt or scare him anymore.

As someone with schizophrenia, who is an auntie to two-year-old Archie, I wonder if he’s old enough to understand the story when he reaches four. Yet a children’s book using metaphor to introduce them to the different experiences people have is a worthwhile concept. It’s been observed that Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh has symptoms of depression, yet his friends still love him irrespective. That’s a very important message to drive home for children. Pretend Friends projects AA Milne’s philosophy further, and says that Big Jay needs “special medication” for his pretend friends. But in my own childhood, the very notion of this as a reality for a loved one would have been terrifying. However, there’s a section for adults at the back of the book that address any fears a child might have. It gives example questions about Big Jay with thoughtful responses that foster greater understanding and compassion. Causation and cure (or lack of it) are all covered, and the message is conveyed that, with the right help and support, Big Jay is going to be okay. It’s also stated that psychosis is no-one’s fault and not the child’s responsibility.

Conversations such as this one are very important. Once over dinner with two adults and their 15-year-old son, I brought up my schizophrenia and the 15-year-old laughed in my face. It illustrates how we must tackle misconceptions early and bring such a stigmatised illness in the open, rather than pretending that it doesn’t exist. Regarding my relationship with Archie, I’m keeping the book to give him when he’s just about tall enough to have a conversation over the beautifully illustrated brown picket fence.

Published source: Lancet Psychiatry online