It’s difficult, sometimes, to find good first person accounts of what it is like to experience a mental illness. Some of those who have been there don’t want to talk about it; some can’t. Others simply can’t find the right words. Joanna Cannon (author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep) came up with an ingenious idea: match top-notch writers with mental illness patients and let them collaborate on sharing the stories that otherwise would have gone untold. This book is the result of this brilliant concept.
I loved this book. It was varied, honest, raw, open and each story implored the reader to please hear them. Listen. Not to judge or rush to any conclusions, but see a whole person in the midst of the diagnosis, and learn what it actually felt like for them. I’ve been around mental illness a lot of my life, directly and indirectly. I’ve had family members who suffered from it and seen the impact that had on other members of the family. I’ve seen my own family struggle. I’ve had friends who have attempted suicide, struggled with eating disorders, neurodivergence (quick note here – this is not a mental illness, but it is intricately linked with mental health and can often co-occur with other mental health issues like anxiety or depression – even being misdiagnosed as these – so it inhabits a similar area of experience), PTSD, anxiety, depression, addiction. I’ve known this from the outside and, in some measure, from the inside too. I’ve spent most of my adult life battling my own demons, and only recently received an accurate diagnosis that has begun to unravel some of the mystery of what has made living in my own brain so hard. But with each of these experiences, I’ve seen so much more. I’ve seen people who are strong, brave, funny, resilient, and yes, broken – trying their best to become whole again. I’ve seen humanity in all its shades, its darkness and light, and I’ve learned. I’ve learned from each of these people, each of my own episodes. I’m stronger for it, and though I’d never wish it on anyone, I know it has made me who I am.
This book is vital. It’s so easy to disregard mental illness sufferers and see them as outsiders, exceptions to the norm. But in reality, they – we – are just people. We’re your friends, your partner, your mother, sister, brother, father, colleague, neighbour. Mental illness has so many different permutations that it is everywhere, and nowhere all at once. You can only rarely actually see it, most of the time it’s there under the surface except for those you know most intimately (and sometimes even then). It’s not an aberration. These days, it’s very nearly the norm. COVID-19 saw diagnoses of mental illness – particularly anxiety and depression – skyrocket. It is becoming increasingly prevalent, and it’s showing up in some of the people you’d least expect. What is so difficult about it is that, despite its wide reach, it’s still stigmatized. We still feel alone when we suffer from it, and we still judge others who do. We rarely feel like it’s something we can share for fear of being treated differently because of it. I’m really hoping this will change, and books like this are such a vital starting point for making this a more normalized topic of conversation and learning.
The title of the book came from Cannon’s own experience as a doctor, and how often patients would struggle to find the right words to share important symptoms or information during their appointments. So they would go away and write them down, coming to her in the hallways of the hospital, holding out scraps of paper with the request: “Will you read this, please?” It’s a powerfully evocative phrase, not only because of where it comes from, but because of the new request this book is making of anyone who crosses its path. If I were you, I’d listen. This book is absolutely brilliant, and even as someone with background experience, I learned so much from its pages. Please, will you read this?
‘Some people who deal with mental illness have the opportunity and ability to write about it, but many do not – and it was those people, those unread stories, I wanted to find’ JOANNA CANNON
How do we give a voice to those who so often remain unheard? Will You Read This, Please is a frank and impactful collection of twelve stories as told to our best British writers, based on the lived experience of people who have faced mental illness in the UK.
Edited by Joanna Cannon, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, Three Things About Elsie and A Tidy Ending, the stories told here are powerful, resonant and heart-breaking. This is a ground-breaking and unforgettable collection, shining a light on the stigma and isolation of living with mental illness, while also showing the strength and resilience of the human spirit. – Goodreads
Book Title: Will You Read This, Please
Editor: Joanna Cannon
Series: No
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: The Borough Press
Released: May 11, 2022
Genre: Non-Fiction, Anthology, Mental Illness, Own Voices
Pages: 224
Date Read: May 11, 2023
Rating: 9/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.27/5 (100 ratings)