Mental illness has led to some of the worst times of my life...but it has also led to some of the most brilliant. Bad things happen, but good things can come from them. And strange as it might sound, my mental health has been vastly improved by being mentally ill.' The world as we knew it was finally ending, and the most bizarre thing had happened: I knew it was going to be OK. Or, more accurately, I knew it was going to be messy, uncertain, stressful, fraught, frightening, lonely, and overwhelmingly sad - but that it would still be OK.

Mental illnesses] try to take over by turning you against yourself; by removing your energy, or by giving you too much; by cutting you off from the people who care about you and telling you that nobody actually does care about you. They remove all your sense of self-worth. They blot out all the hope. They tell you that nothing will help. And how do you even start to feel hope when you are under the influence of an illness whose main symptom is telling you that there is none? One of the biggest barriers to finding help is the belief that you are beyond it. Unfortunately, this is also one of the main symptoms of most mental health issues. We know, for example, that exercise can be one of the most effective tools for helping mental illness. The million, billion, TRILLION dollar question is, how do we help people with mental illness to want to exercise? How do we help people to do what is right for them, when they are under the malign influence of something that only wants what's worst for them? In his opinion, “the vast majority of neuroscientists will probably have never heard of these terms”. Catherine Harmer, a cognitive neuroscientists at the University of Oxford, agrees that all brains are different. “We're all unique... kind of like a fingerprint,” she says. Well written, non-preachy book about mental health. Honest and completely relatable to my anxiety-riddled brain. Full of humour, facts and organisations/charities that can help whatever your situation.I really identified with this book. I haven’t ever suffered from depression before the past year - my doctor calls it circumstantial depression. The authors struggles are different than mine - she struggles from anxiety and excessive worrying. I don’t. And yet, she resonated with me. Organisations such as the UK’s National Autistic Society also have guides for employers on making their company more accommodating to people with the condition. This is not just of benefit to individuals – people with autism often have many strengths that would be an asset for companies, if only those strengths were better recognised and allowed to flourish.

Gray believes that focusing on and celebrating the strengths of neurodivergent people - rather than the challenges - is one of the missing pieces of the puzzle. " The diagnostic criteria for these conditions is based on a deficit model. It looks at what people can’t do – not at what they can. My daughter Inez has the most incredible brain, she sees things in a way most people don’t. But none of her many diagnoses reflects that”. Topics covered include how to navigate the system, the importance and limitations of getting a diagnosis, adult diagnoses and neurodiversity in education. It maybe isn't as ground breaking as her other books but Gordon writes with insight about coping with intrusive thoughts, addiction and how to seek help. She has certainly done her research as she asks top mental health providers how to access the help people need as well as the best way to breathe to calm down. She combines this with her own personal battles and mantras she has used. She always manages to add her unique humour to such a taboo subject. I love how she calls her illness Jareth and liked the way she compares us to boilers and how we all need to keep the auto pilot light on which is our self-esteem. Mixed feelings about this. Initially I liked it: the almost conversational tone, the references to the early days of the pandemic, but the more I got through it, the actual style of writing became annoying (quotations that desperately wanted to sound profound, bullet point lists so long they lost their impact). These may seem like academic disputes. Ultimately, many people with conditions like autism find that the term neurodiversity (and its contrast, neurotypical) is a useful and positive way of self-defining their identity and their community. There’s certainly a need to reduce the stigma.A new podcast launching this week from the New Zealand Herald and Team Uniform, hosted by TV personality Sonia Gray, will explore the complex world of neurodiversity and the many conditions that fall under this umbrella. By recognising those biases, we can then change the environment to cater for people’s different needs. Some progress is being made – UK supermarket chain Morrisons have introduced a weekly “quiet hour”, for instance, for autistic shoppers who struggle with music and noise. A number of other big supermarket chains are now trialling similar initiatives. The chapter on helping others makes some good points about small acts of service, writing to your MP, or volunteering if you can. Gordon also suggests that you can participate in mental health activism simply by 'sharing your own story' on social media. I'm much more dubious about this peculiar neoliberal idea that individual stories create systemic change - really? It also presupposes that everyone's experience of mental illness has a coherent narrative structure, which I highly doubt. Most importantly, why should it be anyone else's business? Perhaps it's the shyness and introversion, but I'm not comfortable sharing a lot of personal details of my mental health with total strangers. While for some this may be a positive experience, social media is often a toxic, adversarial, corporate hellhole. I'd be inclined to caution on this front. Join Bryony for this exclusive event, as she offers a practical guide to mental health, building on her most recent publication, No Such Thing As Normal.