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'Underneath the Flesh' is the brave, honest and shocking account of a lifetime battle against morbid obestity and compulsive overeating. Betrayed by her abusive father and grieving for her late mother it was almost inevitable that a young Sandra would develop an addiction to conceal her pain. For Sandra the addiction was food. At her largest Sandra weighed 28 stone; her weight became a shield, protecting her from the grief she felt for a lost childhood. As well as her affection-less, austere and often brutul childhood, Sandra recounts the traumatic birth of her son Edward, her failed and loveless marriange and her desperate attempts to lose weight and beat her compulsion. Despite all these problems and a life of true hardship and pain, Sandra remains positive. This book ends on a note of hope. At a time when obesity is rarely out of the headlines, this is an extraordinarily strong, poignant and timely book.

Description Novelist, poet and musician Jeremy Gluck draws on his experiences of growing up in post-War Canada in a breath-takingly beautiful and poignant account of his battle with bipolar disorder (manic depression). He contrasts a depiction of his descent into depression and madness with the narrative innocence of his childhood. Victim of Dreams can help others to understand what it is like to develop, have and/or survive a severe and enduring mental health condition. More than anything else service users want empathy: Manuals and guides are essential, good medical support crucial, medication crucial of course, but those with serious MH conditions are so plagued by feeling misunderstood and isolated that empathy is the key. Exploring in anecdotal and lay terms the genetic and environmental genesis of the disorder in me, the book is written in a highly professional literary style, including vivid memoir and especially penetrating accounts of depression and manic delusion - drawn largely from journals kept at the time and therefore vivid in their evocation of mania and depression - and is a new kind of survivor book that eschews "misery" for memory and asks, again and again, searching questions about the nature of our lives, minds, memory and capacity to endure what is, after all, a part of ourselves seemingly set to destroy another, more benign part. The book is in three parts or "lives". The first part is my innocence, when the illness lies dormant but shadowing. In the second part, I wrestle with madness as the illness reveals itself. Coming from a more balanced and objective viewpoint, in the final part I review both having brought myself back. I can now show myself as someone different, neither the innocent nor the madman, and importantly not the person I have been accused of being.About the AuthorI am 49, an expatriate Canadian with a background in the arts, now working in the voluntary sector in Wales as a mental health information and research worker. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2002. My lifelong experience as a published writer/author has equipped me ideally to write an insightful literary account of my life leveraged to the impact upon it of the illness, my eventual diagnosis and coda heralding my recovery.

Description A varied collection of parents' stories about raising children and teenagers with Aspergers. The contributors have bravely written totally honest, deeply moving and sometimes harrowing accounts about what it really feels like to care for a challenging child. The book helps to remove the isolation and guilt felt by so many parents. Embedded within the narratives are their unique ways of coping which may inspire some with new strategies to try. This book will also appeal to relatives, friends and professionals seeking to get a better understanding of Aspergers and the far reaching effect on the family unit.About the AuthorAnna Van Der Post is both a research psychologist and a mother of a teenager with Aspergers. She has worked as a researcher for both mental health charities and the National Health Service.For the last fourteen years she has lived in the South West of England with her son whom she has home educated.Anna enjoys coastal walks, cryptic crosswords and spending time with her friends.

Description This is the real-life story of John Carter's experience of living with depression. It is not a step-by-step guide to "beat" depression. Rather, this is the actual story of how one person living with depression gets through his days and long nights coping with suicidal thoughts that are never too far away. The chapters are written in chronological order through the author's school years, his first work experiences, and his arrival to and subsequent departure from university at the age of 30. In the last two chapters, the author writes about the rollercoaster of numerous counselling sessions, and about his hopes and dreams for the future.About the AuthorJohn Carter is 35 years of age and lives in a small flat with his cat in Nottingham. He currently works part-time as a reader and reviewer of books for a literary agency because he loves reading as it takes him away from the hardships of real life and it gives him something to look forward to each day.Book Extract CHAPTER ONEWHEN I WAS A LADI was born in 1973 on January the 16th. I sometimes wonder if it was grey, overcast, murky day, in keeping with my life. My family lived in an area of Nottingham called Sneinton Dale - a working class area, not twenty minutes by foot from the city. My dad was just starting a career as an electrician and my mother had to look after two hungry, noisy, young kids.My mother told me when they first moved into the house in Sneinton, my parents didn't have the money to buy their own furniture. They had to borrow and make do - just the same as the rest of the people who lived in the 'dale'. That's why my dad had to work away from home. It was something he regrets doing because he didn't get to see the family enough or watch is children grow up. My dad got used to being away from home. So did we. In the eighties, he spent 16 months working in the Falkland Islands at Port Stanley Airport.

Description I am a mother of a thirteen year old Autistic boy. My child Steven, was diagnosed as being severely Autistic with a severe receptive language disorder at two and a half years of age.My book outlines the experience that has been gained from my son Steven. The book has been written to assist and offer support to other parents and families of children with Autism so that they too will benefit form what I have learnt.The book covers the diagnostic process, concerns of parents, coping strategies, teaching methods, behaviour strategies, research being carried out on the subject, recognizing educational needs, my child's developmental history and how I learnt about Autism. It also talks of finding an appropriate educational environment and offers practical guidance in this area. It offers guidance in teaching body awareness, developing life skills, building an understanding of the environment and everyday situations.I gave up my career as an Interior Designer to devote my time to Steven and used my creative skills to produce materials to further encourage his learning. I would like to share my book so that it could act as a practical guide for those caring for Autistic children.About the AuthorSandy was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka to Buddhist parents who were both involved in a family owned furniture business. She was the younger twin of a family of four children and attended an all girls school. The family consisted of the two boys being the older and the two girls being the younger. Sandy had a privileged lifestyle where she was completely isolated from any of life's hardships. Sandy is a descendent of the Anagarika Dharmapala who dedicated his life to spreading Buddhism throughout the world. She was a competitive swimmer and an artist and enjoyed every aspect of growing up in a tropical land.

Living in the Shadow of an Alcoholic ParentBy Emma Speigler ISBN: 978 1 84747 022 5Published: 2006Pages: 80 DescriptionMissing Mummy looks at alcoholism and the effects it can have on a family. It provides an insight into the complex emotions of a child growing up with an alcoholic parent, whose mother was also an alcoholic. The poetry takes a journey of recovery to end with a message of hope, acceptance and forgiveness. About the Author Emma Spiegler has compiled a variety of 30 poems to offer the reader an insight into addiction and its consequences. Having lived with an alcoholic mother for 20 years, she has seen her mother suffer greatly from mental illness, and her mother has now entered the beautiful world of sobriety, stopping the cycle of addiction. Book ExtractThe Untold Memories Of Past SoulsA sadness filled stemOnly told by its droopinessForeverness in a stream of worriesA broken trust bond time and time againTears of a bird that only remains in the skyChildren left dyingWith only self preservation to surviveShare your warmth with meJust a little or twoTouch me you monsterBefore I internalise youEnvelope the creatures that so desperately crave for affectionCapture the wicked whose heads must be stamped onDeath is intolerable even words can't describeEmotions like waterfallsEach trickle access deniedKilling sprees are destined as are too the embryo'sLife is a journey that will never be knownOpen your eyes and your secrets will pourFixing your hairs only closes your poresGiving hope of the daylightSafety of the infinite starsGrazing the knucklesWhen there are already scarsStarving the nationsBleeding them dryVersace and lip-glossThere is something in my eyeQuietness is blissBut then company is missedLaughter is a blessingFor there is beauty in painLove is a giftWith a thousand namesGrowth is a promiseWe must keep to ourselvesPatience is a virtueThat must be sold on shelvesTime is a presentToday is my feastWater is my sanctuary where I defeat the beastsPeoples are searchingExpression through natureCountries are cryingMothers dumped in a dumpsterForgetting an art form and love a true wonderGreed a phenomenonAnd guilt a natural disasterHeaven's doors crushed on blindness foreverNever findingOppressing creationMemories are whispersHeard everywherePictures are blinkers on what was truly thereSkin is as real as you make it beHappiness will come when you set yourself freeDisenfranchised my favourite wordNever ending rainbowsHis histories repeatingDepression is a themeWith a life-force of its ownSanity is only necessaryWhen the grass has overgrownMixing and matchingLike eve's forbidden fruitMan made religionDesigned only to confuseThose who give in and become blinded by traditionPeople are amazingA new realisationFear is disgusting and that's why you're washingDenial is a secretOblivious to its reflectionConstantly rejecting a deserved connectionDon't look back or the ocean will tide over youRunning too fast will not cure your broken shoeLightening the bolt downFreeing the stormUnravelling true desire in its truest formAlways wantingWhat others have gotFinishing the story before it gets too hot!

Description The Skin Collection was initially based upon six poems that were to do with self-harming behaviour in the form of skin-picking. As Isobel developed confidence she begun to use poetry to help describe the desperateness of her depression and mood-swings. Isobel finally found a way of using words to put a voice to some very difficult feelings that were not only very confusing but also very destructive. About the AuthorIsobel Knight was born in Oxford in 1974. She did a degree in Winchester in 1997. She then worked in arts administration before working in managerial roles in the voluntary sector. She also trained as a Bowen Therapist (a remarkable form of gentle soft-tissue therapy from Australia) and has her own private practice. Always interested in writing, Isobel has already started to write her own autobiography. She also loves classical music and plays the Alto recorder. She also enjoys both watching classical ballet and dancing herself. Isobel is also very fond of cats, and finds them very therapeutic! This is her first collection of poetry.Book ExtractSomeone tore at the curtains of my heart.My hand is stretched out fully to crisis; I never made contact with them.Misery grazes my face; a rope is uncoiled from the pit of my stomach, unravelling down the road.Screams pierce the darkness in my head and whistle out of my skull.I want him, oh god.Like a sacrifice I am lain dead at her feet.I would dance naked down the street, turn Catherine wheels until the flames sparkle the skies and ignite us.Jumping Jack in somersault, reach and pull me down,Over and over, I flip, upside down. A flat gingerbread, who has been caught by the wolf.In flight I soar the foggy skies that cloud my comprehension.I turn inside out, agony unscrews in the darkness.Wax is dripping out of my formless self.The clock moves so reluctantly I have to budge it with the second hand.MOVE.

DescriptionWith thoughtless parents, two divorces and far from good experiences with the legal services, the author has not found life easy in fact at times felt victimised and even abused.But she has never let go of a sense of a relentless steel rod inside her - the thirst to learn, and belief in herself as a writer,Most of her life experiences she has fictionalised to a greater or lesser degree. Some stories are not autobiographical at all. But where she has just enjoyed following her imaginations, it has taken her down shady paths to at least the sad - sometimes sinister or very dark. About the AuthorPamela spent most of her working life bringing up four children and doing casual jobs.. she took a degree in English and at a local university and then taught in Adult Education and became a Market Research Interviewer. When her work dwindled in the Recession of the 1990s, she tried for a while to run her own private Adult Education business. She has always wanted to write and began in her twenties. She has broadcast her own talk on the radio, published some short stories and articles, and had prizes in a few writing competitions. Pamela lives in The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.Book ExtractYears later she was to remember how, in those days sitting in their garden she heard over and over again the same horrific sound. She had never heard anybody mention hearing this and repeatedly, daily, but she did. A shriek: a scream of a small animal she supposed, in the beak of a predator flying overhead. It was a sound of pain and terror, she thought at the time but not a call for help. It was the ultimate sound of utter misery and terror at a fate - destruction - where the one who cried had no hope or even thoughts of rescue. She would lie on a deckchair in those days, in some kind of pretence to the world (or neighbours?) or to herself that she was having a nice time. The deckchair...two deckchairs, sat in the garden of their house. He would like, require, that she be seen to be having a nice time. The screeching amazed and puzzled her for she did not remember hearing it before (and indeed has not since) and she almost hated it for its daily persistence, impinging on her world. For how could anyone nearby bear such hopeless terror and excruciating pain, and such helplessness?

Mental Health: A student account, a detailed low down of work on a busy dementia ward, seen through the eyes ofa student nurse undertaking a 12 hour shift. Read of thehighs and lows of working within the rewarding career ofmental health. Experience first hand the sorrow andlaughter of caring for individuals with diverse needs in aworld where the bottom line and cost cutting isparamount, and what you see may not be what you get.Also take a tour through voluntary services, through aunique diary and discover how they are run, for better orworse. This book is an invaluable resource for anyaspiring nursing students, individuals currently workingwithin healthcare, or those with direct experience ofmental health services in Britain today. Read it, and makeup your own mind if what we currently have really is'Person Centred' care.