My hope for Bi Polar Expedition is to raise awareness of mental health issues by using my brand of humour which is, dry, educated, sarcastic and warped. I’ve sold copies in America, Sierra Leon, Ireland, England and India where it was used as a training manual, two of my eldest son’s friends are psychiatrists and here’s what they said about my book and their time in India…

“The training I’ve been doing has been amazing. I’ve been working with people with mental health problems or who care for people with the diagnosis. I’ve been teaching them to be peer leaders so they can go out to their villages to listen and support others with mental health disorders. It’s so rewarding, especially since I’ve been working through translators. These people have nothing compared to our lives back in the UK.”

“Ray has also read your dad’s book and please let him know that he thinks it’s one of the best accounts written by a user that he has ever read and Ray has spent over 30 years working in the mental health field. Please tell your father that I used something from his book with the people I’ve been training. In his book he mentions how long after his discharge from hospital it took to actually feel well again. We discussed that in a session as it’s something that Ray and I have never thought of until now and several other service users have experienced similar difficulties after being discharged, so his book is having an influence all the way in India.”

Bi Polar Expedition’s Audience

Carers

Family members are usually the first to notice a problem with a relative but they’re ill-equipped to deal with the start of a mental illness. The most obvious solution is to make an appointment with their GP but if the relative doesn’t think there’s a problem they’re unlikely to go. This leads to prolonged stress for the carer, so reaching a diagnosis is a priority from the beginning. On discharge many patients are bewildered with life on the outside and some may have even become institutionalised. They’ll be reliant on their carer and mental health professionals for after-care and hospital check-ups. In many cases, for the patient and carer, this is the first time they’ve had to deal with an illness such as this. It’s a tiring and patience-sapping process for all concerned, especially when a patient’s confidence and self-worth has been shattered by a break-down.

All mental health professionals
/social workers / occupational therapists

The above have had the knowledge from years of diagnosis and treatment passed down to them from books written by professionals. What they don’t have is any literature by a survivor who has been through the system and made it out the other side. My question is – why? I wrote my book to give an insight of my experiences for the vast range of psychiatric staff so that patients and carers in the future have a greater diagnostic understanding from the outset.

Police training colleges / Stations / Prisons

Imagine it’s your first day on the beat and you have to deal with a person in a high phase of a bipolar disorder. If you can’t comprehend the last sentence you’ll need someone with you who does, because if the first thing you do is produce a night-stick you will be making a bad situation a whole lot worse. Education – it’s a wonderful thing in the right hands.

Avid readers

Bi-Polar Expedition also targets avid readers of true-life stories as the product is much more than just another self-help book. Readership age: 16 and above both sexes.