A compelling visual and verbal journey exploring the author's experience of schizophrenia: the first signs reactions from friends and family how he sought help the challenges of recovery.
Edinburgh 1994 I am crouching in an alleyway. They can't see me here so for the moment I am safe. There must be hundreds of loudspeakers projecting secret messages at me and umpteen video cameras tracking every move I make.They will tie me up soak my feet in water and have goats lick my feet down to the bone.
Melbourne 2003 'Nowadays I say that I am recovered not cured. I have a job I have my band I have my friends and my family. I pay my taxes and do the dishes; I'm independent. A couple of pills a day keep me slightly lethargic yet sane . I can live with that.'
Mental illness is common and often devastating. In this day and age it is a treatable condition yet many are left untreated misunderstood. Richard McLean is one of the lucky ones. His words and pictures give us a unique and poignant insight into a hidden internal world.
This is a powerful quirky and important book. Powerful because it goes straight to the heart of battling a psychotic illness. Quirky because of the author s abundant creativity and the delight of his illustrations. Important because it outstrips anything else I have read about schizophrenia for its insight into the nature of psychotic thinking and behaviour. McLean writes with a bold simplicity and deftly avoids melodrama and bathos. Anne Deveson
