Mental Health Biography

Over the past two decades, we have started talking more about common mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. But complex conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychosis have been left behind, as have many of the people who live with these conditions or who care for them. Part memoir, part deep-dive investigation, The One Thing We've Never Spoken About is filled with rage at how our nation's public discourse, emergency services and healthcare systems continue to fail so many people.

In 1990, a young woman was strangled on a jogging path near the home of Pat Brown and her family. Brown suspected the young man who was renting a room in her house, and quickly uncovered strong evidence that pointed to him - but the police dismissed her as merely a housewife with an overactive imagination. It would be six years before her former boarder would be brought in for questioning, but the night Brown took action to solve the murder was the beginning of her life's work.

Emmeline Clein's own history of disordered eating began when she was just twelve. In Dead Weight, alongside her own experience and through the stories of other women – famous figures from across time and popular culture, and girls she's known and loved – she traces the medical and cultural history of anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia and binge eating disorder.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars by Paul Broks, read by Simon Bubb. A man's wife dies. What next? The next day is next, and the next, and so on. He smothers his sorrow and gets on with the days. He's a Stoic. Tranquillity is the goal, but his brain won't rest. As a neuropsychologist he has spent a career trying to fathom the human brain, but now, he comes to realise, his brain is struggling to make sense of him - probing, doubting, reconstructing.

In Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In Upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night. These disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the 21st century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and—more crucially—to treat them.

How do attorneys who represent clients facing the death penalty cope with the stress and trauma of their work? Through conversations with 20 of the most experienced and dedicated post-conviction capital defenders in the United States, Fighting for Their Lives explores this emotional territory for the first time. Through vivid interviews amplified by the author's responses and commentary, these attorneys reveal aspects of their internal experience that they have never talked about until now.

Warning: This audiobook describes several crime scenes that are graphic in nature and may be very disturbing to some people. Do not proceed if under the age of 18 or are disturbed by scenes of death and violence. One after another, young women disappeared without a trace in the night. One by one, their brutalized bodies turned up, the macabre crime scenes suggesting they shared the same cruel fate. Abducted, bound, and raped, all fell prey to an unknown killer; all became the victims of a deadly deception.

If you had told Roger McNamee three years ago that he would soon be devoting himself to stopping Facebook from destroying democracy, he would have howled with laughter. He had mentored many tech leaders in his illustrious career as an investor, but few things had made him prouder, or been better for his fund's bottom line, than his early service to Mark Zuckerberg. Still a large shareholder in Facebook, he had every good reason to stay on the bright side. Until he simply couldn't.

In So Many Freakin’ Secrets, Janet Cheney takes her readers on a journey through her own 1950s/1960s-era dysfunctional upbringing: a life full of secrets, unaddressed emotions, and unhealthy behavior patterns that cultivated a climate of abuse. Punctuated with humor and unusual spurts of joy, Cheney is stymied by unspoken family themes of suppressing grief, hiding abuse, eating away your emotions, "don't talk/don’t share," and withholding love and affection. It all becomes the catalyst to find self-love and learning that all are worthy of love, just for being born.

In this touching and witty book, award-winning presenter and comic Robin Ince uses the life of the stand-up as a way of exploring some of the biggest questions we all face. Where does anxiety come from? How do we overcome imposter syndrome? What is the key to creativity? How can we deal with grief? Informed by personal insights from Robin as well as interviews with some of the world's top comedians, neuroscientists and psychologists, this is a hilarious and often moving primer to the mind.

In Playing Hurt, a leading figure in the sports world - the quintessential "man's man" who seems to have it all - confesses his constant battle with depression. John Saunders welcomes listeners into the heart of his desperate struggle through insights into the root causes of depression and explanations of modern medical and homeopathic treatments.

From her earliest days, Sanz was the easily forgotten stranger, always a little out of sync with the rest of the world—a tough but naïve kid and aspiring writer. Her triumph over illness and addiction includes amusing anecdotes and nostalgic, heartwarming memories. Dive deeply into Sanz’s confessional self-sabotage, self-destruction, and the harrowing downward spiral she almost didn’t survive. Her never-before-told story ranges from recklessness and impudence to empathy, forgiveness, and love.

Imagine losing your grip on reality and plunging into a nightmarish yet fantastical realm of schizophrenia. This memoir is one Harvard grad's account of several psychotic episodes he's endured over the years. A constant pause-resister, the adrenaline doses keep coming from start to finish. These vivid accounts of psychoses put the listeners in a front-row seat of some of the spectacular recesses of human imagination - only the listener has the option to check out at any time.

The terrifying story of the most monstrous serial killers through history. Serial killers are the most notorious and disturbing of all criminals, representing the very darkest side of humanity. Yet they endlessly fascinate and continue to capture the public's attention with their strange charisma and deadly deeds. From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy and the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, these killers transfix us with their ability to commit utterly savage acts of cruelty and depravity.

Lessons in Gratitude tells the story of Aaron Dworkin, a MacArthur Fellow, social entrepreneur, and spoken word artist who has dedicated his life’s work to changing the face of classical arts in the world. The themes of persistence, passion, and loyalty shine through stories of an unhappy childhood, a lifelong search for identity, and the obstacles of race, culture, and class. Listeners will learn how the author greets these challenges and how they drove him to make a difference for people who are shut out of opportunity.

Multi-award-winning Hannah Gadsby broke comedy with their show Nanette. Now they take us through the defining moments in their life and their powerful decision to tell the truth—no matter the cost. Harrowing and hilarious, Ten Steps to Nanette traces Gadsby’s growth as a queer person, to their ever-evolving relationship with comedy, and their struggle with late-in-life diagnoses of autism and ADHD, finally arriving at the backbone of Nanette: the renouncement of self-deprecation, the rejection of misogyny, and the moral significance of truth-telling.

For as long as he can remember, BJ Daniels ate, slept and breathed football. He became a star quarterback at the University of South Florida and went on to play professionally in the NFL, winning the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013. In many ways, it seemed like BJ was living every athlete's dream. However, he also saw first-hand the lows that accompany being a football player at the highest level.

After depression, alopecia, and endometriosis, Janice decided she would save up for a year to quit her job and move somewhere new. She discovered self care and self love during this journey and subsequently stumbled into the sexual wellness industry upon her return to Singapore. First, the brand made it to Watsons. Last year, it made it to Don Don Donki. Now, Janice is working on getting it on Amazon. Getting the toys out of sex shops and into regular spaces will encourage people to think of sexuality as a part of our everyday life.

Sgt. Steve Maharidge, like many of his generation, hardly ever talked about the war. The only sign he'd served in it was a single black and white photograph of himself and another soldier tacked to the wall of his basement workshop. After Steve Maharidge's death, his son Dale, now an adult, began a 12-year quest to understand his father's preoccupation with the photo. What had happened during the battle for Okinawa, and why had his father remained silent about his experiences and the man in the picture, Herman Mulligan? In his search for answers, Maharidge sought out the survivors of Love Company.

Should you trust your intuition when it comes to love? This memoir recounts the remarkable true story of how a chance meeting on a Jerusalem bus led to a marriage, just 10 days later, that thrived for 38 years. This is the account of their unlikely 1983 meeting in Israel, an unplanned honeymoon adventure in Europe, and the improvised first year living together in Jerusalem, working and studying at Hadassah Hospital and the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus.