AustLit

'It's Not Every Day You Get to Admit You're Mad.

'The thing with psychosis is that when I'm sick I believe the delusional stuff to the same degree that you might know the sky is above and the earth below. And if someone were to say to me that the delusional thinking is, in fact, delusional, well that's the same as if I assure you now that we walk on the sky. Of course you wouldn't believe me, and that's why it's sometimes so hard for people who are sick like this to know that they need treatment.

'Written in mental hospitals, in jail, and while its author was functioning in the community, this book is an intense, intimate portrait of the inner life of a schizophrenic. As soon as Burke finished this autobiographical "novel" in 1985, he took a massive overdose of drugs and ended a life that been plagued by paranoid schizophrenia for more than a decade.' (Publisher)

'Green Vanilla Tea is a story of compassion and courage in the face of a deadly and little understood illness. Above all, it is a love story.

Marie Williams watches helplessly as an undiagnosable condition debilitates her husband, Dominic, in both body and mind. As the condition develops, the normally devoted family man and loving partner seems to disappear beneath an expressionless face and a relentless desire to walk and walk and walk at all hours of the day and night.

In a compelling story that spans both joy and sadness, Marie Williams writes about the bonds in her family, her sons’ love for their father, the spirit that sustains them all during the most testing of experiences and about the struggle they faced in dealing with the inexplicable.

'Phil Britten was the 22-year-old captain of the Kingsley Football Club and AFL hopeful, holidaying in Bali with his teammates, when terrorists bombed the Sari Club on October 12, 2002. Although he escaped, Phil's injuries were life-threatening, with burns to 60% of his body. Grateful to be alive, Phil began tough physical rehabilitation and through sheer determination returned to football just six months later. But the battle was far from over — fighting depression and the obstacles of his injuries, Phil entered a dark period.

'On 17 November 2007, Kate Campbell suffered life-threatening injuries when the boat she was a passenger on crashed into a pylon on the Swan River. She beat the odds and woke from a coma only to face horrendous injuries, bouts of depression, multiple surgeries and physical rehabilitation.'

'What also lay ahead was a long legal battle with the driver of the boat, Luke Woollard. For nearly five years, Kate was in and out of the courts fighting for justice, all the while dealing with personal issues, before a chance meeting with a top lawyer finally saw her life turn around.

'Story about leukemia written through the eyes of a friend. Contains factual information about leukemia and emphasises the effect on the lives of those around the child with a life-threatening disease.' (Trove)