Description

Psychosis, Depression and Addictions
By Nigel Pearce

ISBN: 978-1-84991-728-5
Published: 2012
Pages: 118
Key Themes: psychosis, psychiatry, mental health, empowerment

Description

This is a collection of short stories, poems and essays which chart a journey through the counter culture, regular hospitalizations, psychosis, depression and addictions. But not only my own, it includes essays on others who had a similar voyage e.g. Beat poet, Elise Cowen who died age 29 unpublished and is now recognized as a major poet in that genre and on the beliefs which both created conflict with the system but also had the capacity to sustain throughout.

About the Author

He was born in 1959. Home was troubled and he run away to London age 13, lived in the counter-culture in various well organized squats. Became ill after about 9 months and was placed in the Care of the local council. Then fostered to a radical academic couple, although that did not survive long and he went back underground, eventually being arrested in Guildford. The magistrate slapped statuary Care Order on him saying He was in need of care and protection. At 14 he went to live in Hollymoor Hospital in Birmingham; this would be age 14-16. He was fairly frequently restrained and given injections of chlorpromazine. Upon discharge he lived for a short time in the Birmingham Settlement, but became ill and was moved to a specialist manic depressive unit where he first had ECT, age 16. Care Order was revoked at 17 but substance abuse continued with regularly admissions to Central Hospital with psychotic episodes and would sometimes go into semi catatonia. A 20 he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Some of the admissions were for periods of around a year. At the age 25 had specialist help with substance abuse problems and he has been clean 24 years and dry 13 years. In 1984 he was hearing a lot of voices and seeing things, spent a year in Central Hospital, two years in a Predischarge Unit in the community and then eight years in group homes, but he now lives in his own flat with Support Workers visiting twice a week and a nurse once every two weeks. He sees a psychiatrist every three months. His body became toxic with medication in 2003 and was seriously ill physically, but is now on newer meds and is much better. He has a B.A Hons from the Open University and a Certificate in English Studies at Warwick University, does a little job in a bookshop once a week and runs a small magazine that he produces every two months. He is now 49 and unfortunately has Hep C. He experienced three episodes of fairly minor abuse when a teenager and during the whole period their have been some nurses etc who have made his life difficult because of a firmly held leftist ideological perspective.