We will occasionally highlight books that have been recommended to us or discovered by the Foundation staff and volunteers. Feel free to use our contact form to send in your recommendations – we cannot promise to feature each one but will consider all submissions.
As I have by default become more and more involved with anything and everything Mental Health related. Being Frank Bruno’s agent I have experienced first-hand the rights and wrongs of our current UK mental health care system.
It opened a whole new world to me I would receive a multitude of correspondence from sufferers, carers, and medical professionals, to people who just wanted to offer advice and help. It is clear there is no one-fix remedy to mental health issues. However, as now the chairperson of The Frank Bruno Foundation I now have to take a wider overview and listen to many stories from the man in the street up to professors who specialise in mental health issues.
There are many mental health books on the market written by professionals with letters after their names. For someone like me with degrees in common sense awarded by the university of life and hard knocks, I find some of these medical professionals’ books mind-blowing. Many people have an opinion on what is wrong with the “system” but what is certainly lacking is people’s personal stories. It might not always have a happy ending but almost a manual based on actual events and how sufferers and carers dealt with their situations interwoven with anecdotes that would make an interesting and hopefully inspiring read.
To sit back and say “I’m ill – make me better” is not the answer, there needs to be a lot of hard work put in physical or otherwise from the patient. Just to accept as Frank Bruno says “Mind-bending zombie drugs” as the ultimate answer to mental health problems for the rest of your life will not make the mental health issues just go away.
Reading matter written in a simple easy to understand format can certainly help. Sufferers will know the symptoms of their illness they do not need to tell what they already know but it might help them to learn how other people have fought and conquer their demons. The selection of books we are going to feature will not replace professional medical help but might just show you are not alone in your personal hell and will illustrate how the author dealt with the issues either as a carer a sufferer or as an outsider looking in. We are told “it’s good to talk”, “clear the cloud”… Writing your story will become therapeutic I am not a wordsmith, my grammar is appalling and smelling, I mean spelling, is terrible. Writing about your experiences is for several people a chance to get your story “out there”. If you make a good job of it you may be able to publish your story, you will not get rich in monetary terms, but you will be rich in the knowledge of the people you have helped and hopefully educated.
We cannot feature any books that have not been published and our team will read your book and constructively decide which books we can feature. The following have been reviewed by various associates of The Frank Bruno Foundation, including me!
Dave Davies
Chairman & Trustee The Frank Bruno Foundation
