'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. Psychosis and severe depression have a huge effect on how you relate to other people and how you see the world. It's a bit like being in a vacuum, or behind a wall of really thick glass . . . you lose any sense of connectedness. You're cast adrift from everyone and everything that matters.
'I've lived with acute psychosis and depression for the best part of twenty years. This is the story of my journey from chaos to balance, and from limbo to meaning.' (Publisher's blurb)
Writing Disability in Australia:
| Type of disability | Acute psychosis and severe depression. |
| Type of character | Primary. |
| Point of view | First person (autobiographical). |
Kate Richards
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
2019
16470635
2019
single work
interview
podcast
'Kate Richards is a memoirist, poet and most recently, a novelist. Her work goes where few writers have ever gone. It is profound and honest, and represents not only a contribution to Australian literature, but a contribution to literature on mental health and identify.
'Her first work, 2013's Madness: A Memoir, received the Adelaide Festival's Award for Literature and was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards. Kate followed that stunning debut with 2014's No Place For Me: Making Sense of Madness, which was shortlisted for the Human Rights Award. In 2019 Kate has moved the world of fiction with her first novel, Fusion.'
Source: The Garret.
Kate Richards
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
2019
16470635
2019
single work
interview
podcast
'Kate Richards is a memoirist, poet and most recently, a novelist. Her work goes where few writers have ever gone. It is profound and honest, and represents not only a contribution to Australian literature, but a contribution to literature on mental health and identify.
'Her first work, 2013's Madness: A Memoir, received the Adelaide Festival's Award for Literature and was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards. Kate followed that stunning debut with 2014's No Place For Me: Making Sense of Madness, which was shortlisted for the Human Rights Award. In 2019 Kate has moved the world of fiction with her first novel, Fusion.'
Source: The Garret.
