Walk a Mile: Tales of a Wandering Loon is the story behind ex-social worker and mental health campaigner Chris Young's Walk-a-Mile campaign. The memoir charts the build-up to his decision to set off on foot in his kilt and sporran with merely a tent and a plan to rely only on the kindness and generosity of strangers to propel him on his journey around the outskirts of the UK.

We open with Chris on his first placement as a qualified social worker. Mounting pressures result in a breakdown that leads to him being detained and admitted to hospital. The details of his admission are relayed with amusement and bewilderment as he observes the power imbalances and questionable practices he is subjected to as ‘poacher turned gamekeeper.’

After this, the laughter stops. He returns to his childhood, the raw grief of losing his mum at 12 years old and his brief descent into brutality after being left to fend for himself as his dad retreated further into alcoholism. We follow him into his early years as a rebellious yet well-meaning social worker. The tenderness that is apparent in his description of his clients makes it clear that he'd be the kind of social worker who would go the extra mile for you. We can all relate to how someone like Chris would struggle to survive and maintain his personal integrity working amid the cut-throat system he had to answer to, and how this quickly leads to burnout.

The story raises important questions about how people cope with what life throws at them and the impact this has on those around them: ‘Some people face up to their problems, while others pretend they never happened.’

He ponders, ‘what part's me and what part's loon and can they ever be separated?’ reminding us that when we give someone a diagnosis we can fail to offer a way of recognising their strengths and resources, and the disorder becomes a filter through which they begin to see all aspects of who they are.

Despite the wit, humour and honesty that permeate this memoir, what moved me most was the compassion the author extends towards his abuser. We see the confused child within him as he compulsively circles around the question of whether what happened to him ‘counts’ as abuse.

The book shifts a gear once he sets off on foot around the coast of Scotland, and it is here we bear witness to the daily reality of how the symptoms of borderline personality disorder affect Chris, long after his journey through therapy.

Walk A Mile is a brave and unflinching book that offers hope and solace for anyone who has ever felt sidelined as a result of their mental health. I have placed it firmly at the top of my list of reading materials to recommend to both colleagues and patients, up there with my favourites I Hate You – Don't Leave Me and Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your Life.