Shock, horror: paranoid schizophrenic steps outside – Guest Post by Anne Goodwin…

Head over to Chris The Story Reading Ape, whose guest today is Anne Goodwin who shares the background to her latest book Matilda Windsor is Coming Home which is receiving fantastic reviews including

“Matilda Windsor is Coming Home is heartbreaking, funny and surprising all rolled into one good cup of tea … Overall, an easy read with a good storyline. Terribly heartbreaking to think about the years lost” The Book Review Crew – Head over to discover more.

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Several years ago, after a family tragedy raised a mountain of unresolved personal issues, I succumbed to a virus – no, not that one! – I couldn’t shake off. My GP recommended a couple of weeks’ sick leave, which stretched to six. When I need a sick note, we quibbled over the diagnosis: he proposed anxiety, I thought depression. I can’t recall who won.

It didn’t matter. Taking myself out for walks between bouts of crying, I didn’t have to drag along an unattractive tag, such as“the depressive” or “the anxiety state”. Not so the people I worked with, whose more serious diagnoses smothered their other identities. Schoolteacher, skater, Scorpio stripped away once they qualified as “schizophrenic”.

This would be less controversial if the mental patient identity defined them only within services. Diagnosis is a ticket to treatment and care. But it extends far wider. Witness the media response when…

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