Touched by Madness by Angela Thomas and Debbi Stephens
Price: £10.98
ISBN: 978-1-916732-81-0
A dual memoir written by two lifelong friends who began working as mental health nurses in a large psychiatric facility in the 1970s. Their vivid recollections describe the intense, unsettling, and often poignant world they encountered behind institutional walls, after entering the profession almost by accident. In a time when psychiatric hospitals were overcrowded, underfunded, and governed by rigid routines, they also provided safety and a sense of community for long-term residents with nowhere else to go.
At times both touching and humorous, their stories depict the harsh realities of institutional life, but also the moments of kindness and the difference that a caring approach could make. As their careers evolved, both narrators bore witness to changing attitudes towards mental illness as the provision of care moved from asylums towards community-based services. The emotional burden of their work could be all but overwhelming, but they found resilience in the friendships they formed and the determination to care for the vulnerable people that needed them.
Charting the course of how society defines and handles mental illness, this is both a historical document and a testament to camaraderie and compassion.
Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Marie Minani
Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Marie Minani
Price: £8.95
ISBN: 9781914933509
This is both an important and an unusual book.
It is important because not only is there an increasing number of people developing Type 2 Diabetes but also there is a large hidden population undiagnosed with the disease which increases the risk of developing other chronic diseases.
It is unusual in that, unlike many books about medical conditions and dietary changes, this book is refreshingly relaxed, non-judgemental, easy to read, and above all concise.
The recommendations in the book are a combination of not just many years of professional academic research but also of personal experiences. The latter involved reversing and reducing both pre- and existing Type 2 Diabetes diagnosed at relatively young ages by both the author and her sister respectively.
Marie does not insist on a long list of required lifestyle changes but rather invites her audience to pick just a few of those she recommends. Providing they become constant, relatively small changes in diet and short periods of exercise can be sufficient to reverse Type 2 Diabetes. Fundamentally, these involve consuming low-carbohydrate foods and reducing stress by doing simple exercises. Clearly and concisely, the author lists ingredients and recipes designed to make food ‘more efficient’.
This, the author insists, is a short ‘Guidebook….to a heathier and happier.
