Journey through the maze of psychosis

He was delusional; he was hallucinating and paranoid, and, more than anything,

felt that what he was experiencing was "real".

Despite being a psychology student at Leeds University at the time, Jeff's illness was such that he didn't recognise the symptoms.

"I was getting anxiety and panic attacks, especially when I was in a stressful situation. It got to the point where I thought that I was even having conversations with the television," says Jeff, who now works as a social inclusion and recovery worker for Leeds Partnerships Foundation NHS Trust.

In the end, it was his mother who convinced him that he needed to be admitted to hospital in Leeds, where he stayed for two months, but experienced a gradual recovery.

Now, nine years on, Jeff has written and published his first book, The Canary: A Journey Through Psychosis, which tells his story, of a young man experiencing "psychosis" and his journey back to consensual reality, his emerging spirituality, hope, recovery, and empowerment.

"Looking back, I see what happened to me as positive," says Jeff. "Not for my family and friends who had to watch me going through it, but it has made me really understand myself and also the bigger picture of what society can learn from

people going through

these episodes.

"It also made me change the direction of my career. Before it happened, I was very set in where I wanted to be in the future.

"Afterwards, I was much more relaxed about it. I knew that I still wanted to work in psychology but with a much more holistic approach."

In this book, Jeff gives us a vivid picture of how it feels to go through what he now thinks of as a "spiritual emergency".

He believes his psychosis was brought on by a number of contributing factors at a stressful time in his life.

"I was taking my finals and had just split up from my fiance," he says.

He was also taking large amounts of recreational drugs including cannabis and Ecstasy.

At the end of the book, which is in three parts,

Jeff has advice for young adults who might be

thinking of experimenting with drugs.

"I wanted to write this book for people who might be going or who have gone through a similar spiritual emergency to me, and

also for mental health professionals and families."

"I wanted to publish The Canary for the benefit of others undergoing similar experiences and help them reframe their experiences into a more helpful and ultimately a more meaningful framework."

Appealing not only to this group of people but also to academics, professionals and the wider public, he hopes that the book can help

de-stigmatise the nature of psychosis and help to dispel some of the myths surrounding it.

Lastly, he also hopes to increase awareness of "spiritual emergencies" and the field of transpersonal psychology and psychotherapy.

Jeff's story identifies aspects of the environment which might precipitate sensitive souls, like the miners' canaries, to suffer such emergencies or crises.

He concludes with messages to fellow "canaries", those involved in the

care of people in psychosis, and young people who

could be creating an environment for themselves in which such crises

might occur.

Jeff holds several qualifications in the field of mental health and has been working in adult mental health in Leeds for the past nine years. The book is, therefore, written from both sides of the fence.

"In other cultures, such as African tribes, people who

go through spiritual emergencies are not stigmatised, what they are experiencing is seen as a the manifestation of problems within society."

n The Canary: A Journey Through Psychosis is published by Chipmunkapublishing – one of the leading publishers of mental health related material – is available on amazon.com, or order a copy from the Yorkshire Post Bookshop. Call free on 0800 0153232 or go online at www.yorkshirepostbookshop.co.uk. P&P is 2.75.