Reality and Reason

Reality and Reason is a reactionary book to the term mentalist. Society has adopted the term to symbolise the behaviours of people that may be mentally ill. I see this as an attack on the credability of service users and as an insult to the struggles of individuals to recover from mental illness. I have included my own personal recovery model that maps what has enabled my own recovery from schizophrenia. This is not a recovery model that may be a one size fits all but I feel it identifies my own process of recovery and believe it should at least spark bebate on the issue of enabling recovery from mental illness. Reality and Reason is written both objectively and subjectively in context as a journey of interaction, dilemas, barriers to recovery and the power struggle facing people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. This book I feel is a response to the perceptions that some people hold about people with a diagnosis of mental illness. It serves to provide insight into the reality of mental illness and the reason and understanding that helps people to recover. This book represents my thoughts and feelings put into perspective. The values underpinning this book are of social justice in terms of: . Empowerment . Writer reader connection/empathy. . Inspiring hope and optimism. . Promoting recovery as a legitimate model of care. . Challenging public perceptions of mental illness. Anyone with an interest in supporting people to be who they can be and not simply what others say they should be should read this book.