My Label My Life

My Label, My Life

Come and meet author, Dr Bruce Venter, who will be sharing his story about life with paranoid schizophrenia and signing copies of his book, My Label, My Life: Mental Illness: How I escaped the straightjacket of serious mental illness on Tuesday 5 December at 6pm at Printed Matter Bookshop, 185 Queens Road, Hastings, TN34 1RG. Lee Humphries writes.

Dr Bruce Venter says of his book, My Label My Life: How I escaped the straightjacket of serious mental illness: “I felt as though a lightening bolt had struck me when I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It shattered my world. I was put into a mental asylum. I was labelled. I was shunned. My friends fell away. I was walled by a screen of prejudice and fear from the general public.

“Was this to be a life sentence? Was there a way to escape from the straitjacket of serious mental illness or had the sun gone down in my life forever, never to rise again?

” My Label My Life

“This is my story, the story of how I learned to survive.

“To many who know me, the full disclosure of who I am and the life I have led will come as a shock, not least to my family. However, I have written about my life with the sole purpose of trying to encourage others, who have skeletons in their closets and feel guilty about their lives, to accept themselves.

“There are some things we cannot change. If it had not been for these circumstances, I expect my life would have been very different; however, I am proud to be a survivor and come through it all as a confident, self-fulfilled, happy individual, willing to share my story. Others may take from it whatever they want. No longer do I judge others as I once did many years ago. Instead I feel each of us has a story, both unique and different, worthy of attention, love and acceptance, whether we agree with what was done or not.”

Talk with Dr Bruce Venter about his book, Mental Illness: How I escaped my straightjacket on Tuesday 5 December at 6pm at Printed Matter Bookshop, 185 Queens Road, Hastings, TN34 1RG. Tickets £2. Bruce’s book will be available on the night

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