I had been hoping to read this book for some time, but had never got round to it; the self help message in the title slightly put me off and, to be honest, I was weary of reading more books about my diagnosis.

However, I found the book illuminating; crammed full of references and first-person accounts. It is a jointly written publication by a psychiatrist (Stephen Lawrie) and journalist (Erica Crompton, who has a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia)

It ranges extremely widely, covering everything from what psychosis is and what treatments seem to work, to knitting as a distraction from negative thoughts, to homelessness, stigma, diet, exercise and community mental health teams. It recommends further reading, films and websites and all in all, for me, would be a ‘go to’ text, as a non-academic interested in finding out more about my condition.

The academic and social media world seems to be a gaping chasm of rage about the different interpretations of psychosis and ways of living with it. This book is refreshingly matter of fact and does not overly delve into or engage in the emotion and wide debate connected with the subject. I loved that; some people would be even more enraged by the lack of attention paid to it and the sometimes quick dismissal of some ‘politicised’ ways of thinking.

I am in my fourth decade since diagnosis and felt comforted that there are references and hints that I can pick up on and follow up. However, I am not sure if I would have had the patience or concentration to read it all in the chaotic years after I was first diagnosed but imagine, at that time, it could have been a wonderful resource for my family, who were feeling alternately traumatised and intensely guilty about what I was going through and had minimal information to cope with what was happening in our new and frightening world.