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Well Issue 3: Autumn/Winter 2003/04
Writer and broadcaster, Muriel Gray reviews
The Naked Bird Watcher
by Suzy Johnston
One of the many devastating weapons that depression wields against its victims is a soul-scouring paralysis that renders them unable to take action of any kind at all. Imagine then the bravery of manic-depressive Suzy Johnston to not only find the spirit to analyse and confront the illness that debilitated her youth, but also to conjure up sufficient energy to commit those experiences to print.
The Naked Bird Watcher is a forthright and honest account of the origins of Suzy's depression and how it blighted an otherwise happy and high-achieving school and university life. The fascinating but horrifying details explained to the lay person who has never had to travel such a dark road include the reactions of Suzy's contemporaries, her friends' inability to differentiate self isolation from haughty exclusion, and in one truly awful account, a tutor failing so spectacularly to understand her student's profound illness that it cost Suzy a possible career in teaching.
In another chilling revelation the author also explains the desire for self-harm in such a clear and direct way that such madness seems to make perfect sense. Cutting herself made Suzy feel something, filling the void that depression had created where sensation of any kind, physical or emotional had all but been extinguished. As she put it, her idea of depression before becoming a sufferer was that she would be sad all the time. The reality of feeling nothing was far greater a torture.
Suzy is not a writer by profession and since the publisher is a small and extremely worthwhile independent, doubtless without the funds for literary editors that might have helped her with some of the emphasis and structure, she has to be hugely congratulated for this first bold foray into writing. The book's true value is in the very fact it was written at all, although perhaps after having read that Suzy managed to graduate despite her illness we shouldn't be that surprised at the astonishing achievement of conceiving, writing and completing a book. If we needed an indication of just what a winner she really is then that surely provides it. Since Ms Johnston's primary goal was to help others gain an insight into the illness and combat stigma, and at the same time help those who might have felt alone and unique in their distress, for that very good reason alone the book is worth its weight in gold.
Muriel Gray
The Naked Bird Watcher by Suzy Johnston is available from Borders Bookshops and other selected retailers or fromwww.chipmunkapublishing.com
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