Description

By Lynne Hanson

ISBN: 978-1-84991-864-0
Published: 2012
Pages: 166
Key Themes: Mental Health, Domestic Abuse, Depression, Self Harm, ECT, CBT, Survival, Anti-Depressants, Anti-Psychotics, Mental Illness, Mental Distress

Description

This is a book of three parts. First, Lynne tells us her life story and of the abuse she suffered as a child, from her mother, and then from her exhusband. This abuse resulted in her suffering mental distress and NOT mental illness. She describes how she was treated by authorities such as police and social services when she finally left her husband.

Lynne was treated extremely badly by those people and so the second part of this book examines her many issues and complaints. She highlights the many shortcomings of all the authorities and gives suggestions for improvements.

The final part tells of the organisations and methods that she found helpful to her. These include The Freedom Programme run by Womens Aid and the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT which she was able to access via the Job Centre.

About the Author

Lynne Hanson was born in the North West of England in 1954 but moved frequently in the UK and between the UK and Africa due to her fathers work as a film cameraman.

Life with her mother and later with her exhusband resulted in many stays on psychiatric wards, being treated for depression with ECT and a cocktail of drugs.

After failing her A Level examinations she studied the Mathematics and Science Foundation Courses and embarked on a Physics degree course whilst bringing up her young son.

Lynne also gained a teaching qualification in Mathematics and Physics, Post Graduate Certificate in Education, PGCE and is a fully qualified teacher. Her next achievement was to gain a Masters Degree in Microwave Solid State Physics .

She then worked in the nuclear industry until the birth of her third child, after which she became ill again, following eleven years of domestic abuse from her exhusband. She has worked hard to recover but is still tormented by the fact that she has not seen her two youngest children for over 7 years, through no fault of her own.

Lynne is now happily married to Ian and they live in Spain.