The Words
The words you read or write are always there for you, of that you can be sure. Let these literary caregivers soothe you this month
By Laura Dockrill
Book of the month
WHAT HAVE I DONE?
An Honest Memoir About Surviving Postnatal Mental Illness
(Vintage, £14.99)
Bold, brave and raw, it must have taken immense courage to write this phenomenal memoir. Laura Dockrill’s candid confession of what happened to her mind after a perfect pregnancy is a rallying call for a deeper understanding of the struggles faced by many new mothers. The birth of her child was traumatic and, within sleepless days and nights, Laura was assaulted by paranoid thoughts, overwhelmed by anxiety and drowning in delusions. Instead of cradling her newborn, she was trying to survive psychosis.