The early release of this book attracted a great deal of attention as it deals with the effects of mental illness on the individual and his/her family.
In “I’m Not Mad”, the author, Nicola Mearns, provides a mother’s account of her son’s childhood, the onset of his mental illness and his suicide attempt. It also describes in detail the devastating effect it had on the lives of the family.
It is a MUST READ for anyone facing the same problems.
Nicola introduces the book:
“Your son has jumped off a bridge,” a nurse said. 
These few words will remain with me forever.
I was relieved to learn that, in time, he would recover from his injuries but saddened to know that he would never be free from his mental illness.
I have always enjoyed reading books but it had never crossed my mind to write one myself, so following the devastating news that my son had sustained horrific injuries due to jumping off a bridge in an attempted suicide, I began to write an account of the incident as a therapeutic exercise. Since he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the past few years have been a challenge for all of us. Nathan is fortunate in having a family who love and care about him but there are so many people suffering from a mental illness who are alone.
Being a parent is probably one of the hardest but equally, one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. You try to guide your offspring to make good choices in life without interfering too much, but for some, no matter what you say, they will choose the path which you may not like.
I’ll never really know what brought on Nathan’s mental illness; maybe he was always predisposed to develop it and with the stress of not having a job and starting to smoke cannabis this may have been the trigger for him to develop schizophrenia. One in four people have, or will develop, a mental illness in varying degrees during their lifetime, it is therefore important to look for the signs and seek help quickly even if those concerned do not recognise it themselves.
There are and will be highs and lows along the way but with the support from the rest of my family, we will do all we can to support Nathan with his awful mental illness. I am extremely proud to call Nathan ‘My Son’.
Related Articles:
- Author Webpage to purchase a discount copy – Here
- ShieldCrest Publishing – Here
- Amazon Books – Paperback – Here
- Waterstones Books – Paperback Here
- Mind – Schizophrenia Advice – Here
- Helpguide.org – Helping A Person With Schizophrenia
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