Chipmunkapublishing
Newsletter #1
Contents
Contents…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Page
1
Hello from Jason and Chipmunk…………………………………..……….……………………………………………..Page
2
Advertising with Chipmunka……………………………………………………………………………………………………..Page 3
Quick
Reviews……………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………..Page 4-5
Chipmunka
Booklist……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..Page 6
New Publication of ‘A Can of Madness’ by Jason
Pegler………………………………………….Page 7
New Publication of ‘The World is full of Laughter’ plus
an interview
with the author Dolly Sen………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Page
8-9
New publication of ‘Who Cares?’ by Jean Taylor plus details
of the
forthcoming Book Launch………………………………………………………………………………………………………...Page
10
Sue
Holt's ‘Spiritual Awakening’ as featured in Community Care ……………….…Page
11
Review of ‘Who Cares?’ by Yvonne Poulson of Southwark
MIND………………………..Page 12
Search for a new Author and sponsorship in partnership
with Rethink……………...Page 13-14
Hello from Jason Pegler and Chipmunk,
Welcome to our first newsletter, released
to coincide with World Mental Health Day, unfortunately a little late. Mental
Health has been in the national news lately, especially with the sectioning of
Frank Bruno and the Sun’s appalling and insensitive original headline which
members of the public and mental health charities rightly opposed with such
vigour. In my view the events with Frank Bruno will mark an important moment in
history, in the development of the UK survivor movement. Now that a
public hero such as Frank Bruno has been so dramatically taken ill, and
thankfully seems to be on the mend, society and the media may be more able to
understand, identify with and accept people with mental health issues.
I believe a social evolution is gradually
taking place and my dream is that in fifty years time a seventeen year old with
manic depression will not feel as humiliated or embarrassed about their
experiences as I did. What is happening with mental health happened to the gay
and lesbian community in the late 1980s – 1990s. When I was eleven (I’m now
twenty eight) the gay community were not accepted by society. By the time I was nineteen they were
beginning to be part of the social norm.
Chipmunkapublishing
documents a period in history where people with mental health issues will be
able to reclaim the dignity and respect that they had prior to their
experiences of mental distress. Chipmunkapublishing is only a very small part
of the solution but part of a necessary process in this evolution. Our aim is
to help service users to help themselves by making their dreams come true. The
more and more service users that can step forward and tell their own story, in
their own voice, taking pride in the strength of this achievement - the more we
will empower those survivors, educate others and contribute to the dismantling
of the stigma and discrimination attached to mental health. Chipmunka works
with the media, government, mental health organisations and charities and other
empathetic professional bodies in order to educate and to save lives.
Chipmunkapublishing
is going from strength to strength. Most recently I have been interviewed by
the Big Issue, featured on October 13th and The Sunday Times, featured on 19th of
October. On World Mental Health Day one of our author’s Dolly Sen was interviewed live on Channel 5
News. There are several TV shows that are also showing an interest in our
organisation and authors. On October 13th we also had our biggest
ever book launch with over two hundred and fifty people attending turning out
for Queen Irena’s ‘Love Is A Spider’s Web’. Look out for a feature on this in
our next edition.
Enjoy the newsletter and help us to save lives
and educate people by telling others about Chipmunkapublishing
and our books. If your organisation
would like to write a feature about Chipmunkapublishing,
or review one of our books, feel free to use information from the Chipmunka
website or any extracts from this newsletter. If you could keep in
touch and let us know how you are using our material then we can work out
ways to work in parnterhsip with your organsiation and save more lives. We
know that many people reading this newsletter are doing great work in mental
health. If you would like to interview any of our authors or like us to consider
speaking at your event please email us at info@chipmunkapublishing.com. I
hope you enjoy the first Chipmunka newsletter as much as Chipmunk and his
friends enjoyed putting it together.
Jason Pegler
ADVERTISING WITH CHIPMUNKAPUBLISHING
Advertise with us in our books and newsletter
or on our website.
Website advertisers are featured on our branding page.
Books
First right hand page in 900 of our books will reach a guaranteed circulation
of 7200 readers and only cost you £800. Existing advertisers include The
British Council of Disabled People, Launchpad in Newcastle
who are a branch of Mental Health Matters, The Manic Depression Fellowship
(MDF) Scotland,
The Scottish Association of Mental Health (SAMH), and Renfrewshire Association
for Mental Health (RAMH). The beauty of advertising within one of our books is
that the advert is for life, the advert will also have an impact as the book is
of such a personal nature to the reader. At the same time you have the guarantee
that the money spent on this advertising will go towards helping more mental
health service users. It will also increase the confidence of the author and
encourage them to inspire more service users, carers and people in the mental
health system. Whether you represent a regional or national organisation,
advertising within Chipmunka publications is a concrete way of improving the
branding and public relations of your organisation and is a great support to
our authors. Select a publication in which to advertise from our website and
look out for future book advertising offers with Chipmunkapublishing. Contact us at info@chipmunkapublishing.com with the heading ‘book
advertising’ to discuss proposals.
Newsletter
Our
newsletter goes to over 5000 people and the list is growing. Advertise now for
our second and future Newsletters. There is no deadline for submissions.
Full Colour: Inside front cover £1500, other pages £1000, half
page £500, quarter page £250. Black and White: £800 a page, £400 half page,
£200 quarter page. There are special offers available for those that come on a
first come first served basis. Contact
us at info@chipmunkapublishing.com with the
heading newsletter advertising to discuss proposals.
Website
For £2000 you can advertise your charity/brand with us. You will be
featured on our branding page. To take a look at existing advertisers go to the
branding page at www.chipmunkapublishing.com.
Contact us at info@chipmunkapublishing.com with the heading
website advertising to discuss proposals.
If you have already made up your mind up which method to
advertise through you can use the following payment method:
Send in your cheque(s) made payable to Chipmunkapublishing to 12 Baddeley
House, Vauxhall Street, Vauxhall, London, SE11 5NJ and email your advert how
you would like it to info@chipmunkapublishing.com.
Discounts are
possible through negotiation, especially if you represent a mental health organisation.
Quick Reviews
A Can of Madness by Jason Pegler
I read your book, 'A can of
madness' yesterday and it is the most moving
And personally affecting book I
have ever read. I guess you could say that you have helped one 17 year old with
depression, as unfortunately, I am exactly that. The book made me realise for
the first time, despite having the illness for over 7 years on and off that
there are other people out there who have the same feelings of loneliness and
suicide as I do and that there are ways that this can be if not stopped,
reduced and helped.
Eleanor Whittall
My friend who is in hospital at
the moment has just finished reading A Can of Madness (he is bipolar, although
the diagnosis changes to schizophrenic sometimes). He has just called me to say
it has changed his life & taught him not to feel so ashamed. It’s a great
step forward for him to say that, so thanks.
Kirsty Morrison
It
is a pleasure to see this incredibly vivid and moving memoir come to print. I
hope it will go on to inspire others whose lives are touched by manic
depression
H. Hill
- MIND
Don't
Look Back In Anger by Phillip Pettican
Phil’s story is touching and
poignant. He was an ordinary guy, serving in the Navy and working as a builder,
before mental distress turned his world upside down.
Dolly Sen – Author and Mental Health Activist
Love
Is a Spider's Web by Queen Irena
…Thank you so much for your
wonderful book ‘Love is a Spider’s Web’. Thought I would just express to you in
writing to encourage and inspire you as you have me… I am sure one day soon
your book will not only be published, but that it will also be made into a box
office hit!... Keep up the good work. I am very proud of you. You are truly a
High Priestess to look up to. Don’t stop writing the world needs you.
Jenessa Qua
– Performer at The National Theatre
Once you start reading, it feels
like a roller-coaster journey leading you through paths that make your muscles
tense, relax and gives the ‘Ah!’ feeling. A truly memorable
read.
Velmer McGregor – Teacher and
community activist
The
World Is Full Of Laughter by Dolly
Sen
Dolly’s powerful and moving memoir
tells her terribly difficult story in an astonishingly frank and honest way which, don’t ask me how, somehow manages a streak of irony
and dare I say it, even humour. It is an incredibly honest and determined
account to record her personal struggle with mental illness.
Barry Watts - MIND
Raw,
harrowing and compelling. This is a worthy addition to the
new genre of mad memoirs.
Robert
Dellar - Co founder of Madpride
Poems
of Survival by Sue Holt
Sue Holt's collection of poems is
inspiringly open and honest. It takes the reader on an emotional journey, at
times painful and at others, full of joy. Behind Sue's writing shines the power
of faith, hope and courage.
S.Marshall "Having a
Voice"
Sue Holt's poetic journey takes us
across her rock-strewn life path. We
return, footsore
and heart-weary, to stand beside her as she diligently polishes the mirror of
her own reflection. And we are glad.
Professor Phil Barker, University of Teeside and Trinity College, Dublin
Who
Cares? by Jean
Taylor
This is a story about mental
health carer, survivor and activist. Jean is an inspiration for women who have
experienced domestic violence. I am full of admiration for her.
Jason Pegler – Founder of
Chipmunkapublishing
This autobiography also exposes
the profound lack of civil liberties for the mental health commission and
protective statute and no proper community care.
Robert McDougal – Historian
The
Necessity of Madness by John Breeding
John Breeding PH.D has woven his
own thoughts into a wide array of sources to expose the shadow of modern
psychiatry. More importantly he provides clear information and guidance for
positive perspectives that support human transformation.
Jim Moore - Counsellor with the
Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.
John Breeding's Necessity of
Madness is a work of genius. He has a unique understanding of the damage that
psychiatry causes society.
Bill Taylor - Washington Post
ChipmunkaPublishing
Booklist
A Can of Madness by Jason
Pegler: ISBN 09542218 2 6
This shocking and honest
autobiography on manic depression takes you as close to the manic mind as you
can possibly get.
The World Is Full of Laughter
by Dolly Sen: ISBN 09542218 1
8
Dolly's outstanding memoir
describes how she was an actor from an early age surviving childhood abuse and
was diagnosed with schizophrenia, then manic depression.
The Necessity of Madness by
John Breeding: ISBN 09542218 7 7
An ingenious account of a
book that is anti-psychiatry by an American Professor who is a psychiatrist.
This book is an educational tool for the British Mental Health Movement.
Poems of Survival by Sue Holt
ISBN: 0 9542218 9 3
Manic Depressive and
Christian Sue Holt, warms and inspires us with her poetry. The poems are full
of sentiment, strength, faith and vitality.
Love is a Spider’s Web by
Queen Irena: ISBN 1 904697 00 3
An inspirational
tale about a wife, raising seven children, struggling to maintain sanity in a
loveless marriage.
Don’t Look Back In Anger by
Phil Pettican: ISBN 0 9542218 6 9
This is a chilling and
excellently written story about the realities that living with Schizophrenia
brings.
Who Cares? By Jean Taylor: ISBN 0 954 2218
5 0
Jean Taylor suffered
depression and cared for her mother with manic depression whilst putting up
with an abusive husband - But not for long.
New
Publication of
A
Can of Madness
by Jason Pegler
I had a friend who suffered symptoms of manic depression
and he said it took him till his 12th birthday to realize he
shouldn’t let it get him down. Damien
Hirst
Like other books in this genre, such as Prozac Nation,
the author is often painfully honest about his experiences.
But, as well as educating us, the book also provides
optimism and hope, showing that it is finally possible
to learn to live with, and accept having a mental health
problem. Julia Macpherson – Mind Press Release
For those of us who work in the healthcare system,
many
of Jason’s descriptions should be a warning: this is not the
way it should be. This is a strong book. Read it and gain
strength. Teifion Davies – Consultant
Psychiatrist at
St Thomas’ Hospital London and Senior Lecturer.
ISBN: 0 9542218 2
6
£ 10 in book shops, £ 12 online
www.chipmunkapublishing.com
Chipmunkapublishing
publishes books written by people with a mental illness and their carers. We
work to reduce stigma and discrimination on mental health by showing how people
feel and recover when their lives are turned upside down by mental illness.
Chipmunkapublishing titles
are available to order from the website and from 4.5 million bookshops
worldwide. Alternatively cheques can be made payable to Chipmunkapublishing and
sent to PO Box 6873, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 1ZT.
We are not accepting any
new manuscripts until January 2004 as authors have already been chosen for
2003.
There are discounts on
multiple orders for wholesalers, the government, NHS trusts, hospital wards,
pharmacies, businesses and organisations that work with people with mental
health problems. Anyone interested in
multiple orders (over 30 books) should email us at info@chipmunkapublishing.com.
New
Publication of
The
World is Full of Laughter
by Dolly Sen
The World Is Full of
Laughter book started out as a
suicide note and ended up a celebration of life.
Dolly Sen.
Raw, harrowing and compelling. This is a worthy
addition to the new genre of mad memoirs.
Robert Dellar – co founder of Madpride.
Dolly’s powerful and moving
memoir tells her terribly
difficult story in an astonishingly frank and honest way
which, don’t ask me how, somehow manages a streak
of irony and dare I say it, even humour. It is an incredibly
honest and determined account to record her personal
struggle with mental illness. Barry
Watts - Mind
ISBN: 0 9542218 1 8
£ 10 in book shops, £ 12 online.
Interview with Dolly Sen -
Questions I am most
asked about my book
How long did it take
to write?
It took six weeks to write in total, but I had been planning it in
my head for years. I began to write seriously in 1992 when I was 21, and my
memoir was in my plans then but I kept putting it off with other literary
projects because I was basically too scared to do it. I thought it would be so
painful, that it would turn into a suicide note. Then I met Jason Pegler and
read his book and it blew me away. He really inspired me to finally sit down
and write my story, so that’s what I did. Once I actually started it, the story
couldn’t be stopped, it wanted to be told. I spent about 12 hours a day on the
computer, with lots of necessary breaks to chill out.
What was your family’s
reaction?
That was the thing I was most worried about, because I outed
myself in more ways than one in the book. There were things I couldn’t tell my
family face to face, things I kept inside because I thought if I told them, I
would be rejected. That wasn’t the case. A lot of tears were shed. “Why didn’t
you tell us this?” They would say about my secrets that were driving me mad.
The hugs kept coming from them and their acceptance of who I am after they read
the book. It changed my life. The positive aspects of the book never stop
coming. It’s great to hear from people that say the book has helped them to
make positive changes in their life. You can’t get a better compliment than
that.
Are there any plans
for a follow up?
Yes, I will be writing a follow-up in 2004. At the moment I am
adapting the book into a screenplay because I am a film-maker also.
What are you doing
now?
Everything! I have started
a small theatre and film production charity company called Mindfull Productions that deals with mental
health issues.
http://www.mindfullproductions.org.uk
I have spent a lot of this year filming for Mindfull.
I’m performing my poetry
http://uk.geocities.com/sugarpsychosis/
writing music for film and a CD, running my small press Hole Books
http://www.holebooks.co.uk
I’m recording a spoken word CD, and helping to organise a mental
health media showcase for next year
http://www.thisisreelmadness.co.uk
When I’m not working, I like gardening and looking after my dogs.
I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do all this if it wasn’t for ‘The World
is Full of Laughter’.
Can writing do some
much?
During my worst depressions, writing gave me a reason to wake up
in the morning. Would I still have carried on writing if I never was published?
Of course I would. One of my favourite writers, Charles Bukowski, said of
writing: ‘It is the last expectation, the last explanation, that’s what writing
is’. A plain piece of paper won’t judge you, criticise you. And above all it
won’t lie to you. Writing your life
story does so much for you. It gives you opportunity to reflect, it empowers
you because you have nothing to hide any more. Your life is not a dirty secret
you have to hide. By telling your own story, you are telling the story of
countless others. It needs to be heard.
Any
advice?
Yes. I am well aware many people with mental health difficulties
have low self-esteem. They have dreams but may be lacking confidence to make them
come true. I used to be like that. I would say, “I can’t do this. I can’t do
this.” Then I thought: no way am I going to let a sentence that doesn’t even
last five seconds dictate the whole of my life. You might fall flat on your
face, but I know part of the job description for being human is to make a fool
of yourself once in a while. But it is also your duty as a human being to make
your dreams come true. As an ancient proverb goes: ‘Not to
dream is irresponsible.”
Are you still
laughing?
Most definitely! I have to
be careful I don’t wet my pants!
New
Publication of
Who
Cares?
by Jean Taylor
This is a story about mental health carer,
survivor and
activist. Jean is an inspiration for women who have
experienced domestic violence. I am full of admiration
for her. Jason Pegler – Founder of
Chipmunkapuplishing
This autobiography also
exposes the profound lack of civil
liberties for the mentally ill and the absence of a fully dutiful
mental health commission and protective statute and no
proper community care. Robert McDougal –
Historian
ISBN:
0 9542218 50
£ 10 in book shops, £ 12 online.
Book Launch
Jean Taylor will be
launching her book “Who Cares?” at The Council for Voluntary Services, 95
Abingdon Street, Blackpool on Monday the 10th November 2003 2pm-5pm.
Jean Taylor is the
Chair for “SHOCK” (Campaign Against E.C.T. – electro
convulsive treatment)
Also attending will be:
Tracy Dawson – Patron of shock
Robert McDougall – Historian, (who wrote the foreword
to the book) and
Jason Pegler – Founder and Director of Chipmunka Publishing
Spiritual Awakening by Sue Holt
(As featured in Community Care –
THIS LIFE- 17-23 July 2003-09-29)
People the world over discover religion
daily. However, if as I did that person has a psychiatric history how is their
faith interpreted by those around them, or indeed themselves? I was first
diagnosed as having Manic Depression in 1991. I had fought against this
internally and tried to cover up this episode in my life. I dismissed it as a
one-off psychotic period, which would never be repeated again.
In 1997 it became evident to those around
me that something was amiss. I went from one bout of psychosis to deep
depression to another needing many hospitalisations. I became suicidal as my
life shifted from what was once routine to the chaotic
life of being mentally ill. Within me I knew something deep inside had to
change, something that I felt the psychiatric system was overlooking, something
they were not equipped to help me with.
I began to go to church, something I had
never considered before, except for
weddings, christenings and funerals. I
began to read the Bible and tentatively to believe in God and His love for me
and was baptised. For some people to
begin to believe in God was a relatively straight -forward transition. Not me.
I had very little self worth, believing I was unlovable and could not love, I
did not believe in the concept of trust. So could I really trust God? My
transition to become a Christian was a major ordeal, I constantly tested God
and His word and in turn I believe He tested me.
Whilst in hospital I believe God regularly
revealed to me areas of my life and together we would work to help me to deal
with thoughts, feelings and emotions relating to them.
Those
around me misunderstood my actions, although I was in a state of perpetual
flux. Although I felt my inner spirit knew how and why I was doing certain
things, I was unable to articulate this to others so that we could come to some
mutual understanding. I was spiritually aware but confused by what was
happening.
My faith, limited as it was to begin with,
was dismissed by professionals as delusions and this contributed to more
confusion on my part. Today, I am clear in my own mind regarding my faith and
how this has influenced my life. I no longer try to convince those around me
that what I believe is true and also try to accept that they too have their own
beliefs.
I have asked for the words “religious
ideation” to be removed from the symptoms of relapse on the back of my Enhanced
Care Programme Approach document. My care team and I have also come to an
agreement about what other “symptoms” may appear when I am in distress.
During 2000-1 I wrote over 60 poems. They
are about my experience of mental health, the influence of God in my life and
my childhood experiences. They are brutally honest yet tinged with hope.
Chipmunkapublishing, which aims to reduce stigma and discrimination on mental
health grounds, recently published my work.
Yvonne
Poulson from Southwark MIND reviews
‘Who
Cares?’ by Jean Taylor
Historian Robert
McDougal states in his foreword;
‘This
autobiography exposes the profound lack of civil liberties for the mentally ill
and disabled and the absence of a fully dutiful mental health commission and
protective statute and no proper community care’.
As I read, Jean
takes me through the chaos of not knowing’, and the struggle to make sense of
crazy social, economic, religious and health systems. No account was taken of
the birth trauma, forceps delivery and the cord around her neck, through which
she entered this world, of the Depression and World War II. Ignorance,
superstition and silence did not help this courageous child. Sometimes her
narrative is difficult to follow; but her direct, almost spoken language, takes
me straight into her troubled confusing experience. She says, ‘Who cares?’
Her father was
violent, her mother often ill, but her grandma, a sturdy loving woman, saw and
held her through fear and depression as a child; and later in life helped with
her daughter and sick mother. (Her husband battered her. After the birth of her
second child by another man she was depressed; the Doctor said she had an
anxiety neurosis – hardly surprising?) When her daughter was about 13 she began
to think the idea that girls who see violence in their father tend to pick
similar men, surely applied to her.
Friends, men and
jobs came and went; nothing lasted. And then her dear grandma died. When she
was finally taken into hospital, weighing 5 stone 6lbs, ‘the system’ kept her
alive. In mental hospital she was given was given drugs and ECT over 12 years.
Her treatment was changed without her knowledge and consent and behavioral
therapy was refused - she was not considered ‘suitable. I’m sure this stigmatizing,
destructive story is familiar.
But
thanks to the User Movement Jean found her own behavioral therapy by reading,
campaigning, speaking in public and on radio and film: she spoke eloquently
about the degrading experience of ECT and was appreciated by all the people she
worked with. Peter Breggin’s book Toxic Psychiatry, informed her protests about
drugs. She confronted unfair blame by her family. She nurtured her psychic
sensitivities and studied spiritual healing. She practiced Yoga and Tai Chi and
went swimming; she played her keyboard every day. She writes that she hopes
this book has the therapeutic insight she intended it to have.
All
her hard work on her own self-understanding, and with her fellow sufferers,
culminates in a heartfelt statement. “I now love myself and as a result of this
other people love me too.” To me that is the most valuable therapeutic insight
of all: thank you Jean.
Jean’s book
underlines most of the points made in the Mind
Manifesto about drugs inadequate diagnoses, Ed, the interdependence of physical
and mental health, the need for a social model that takes account of housing,
education and training, financial support, and the role of childhood abuse both
deliberate and accidental. Her example helps to break down stereotypes and
remove the stigma.
The
search for a new Author – Working in partnership with Rethink.
Chipmunka has
established itself as a leading publisher of books, poetry and novels
surrounding mental illness. Many of these bring to life the amazing stories of
people living with mental illness and the hope and strength they have shown in
the face of their experiences.
These books bring
to the reader issues that are too often shrouded in secrecy, fear and stigma.
Chipmunka, and its founder, Jason Pegler, has taken
the bold step of bringing these issues out of the dark and into the forefront
of the public’s mind.
The founder of
Chipmunka, Jason Pegler, has written a dramatic and moving book on his own
experience of living with Manic Depression. His book ‘A Can of Madness’ has
been read by over 10,000 people and
has made a difference to many people’s lives.
Rethink
is the leading mental health charity in the UK
with a membership of over 7,000 and more than 350 mental health services and
projects throughout the UK. Like Chipmunka, Rethink
campaigns for justice for mental health service users and their carers and is
committed to fighting the stigma they experience.
All 7,000 members
of Rethink
receive the magazine ‘Your Voice’ on a quarterly basis. The magazine contains
stories on mental health services and experiences of carers and those
experiencing mental illness. Members are also kept up to date on advances in
medications and other therapies. The magazine is a key way in which Rethink
communicates with its members and keeps them informed.
Partnership
Rethink
and Chipmunka plan to join forces in the search for a new author. This will be
someone who has a story to tell either about his or her own experiences of
mental illness or as a carer, friend, relative of someone experiencing mental
illness. The story they tell will offer a unique insight for the reader into
the lives of those who experience mental ill heath, their treatments and the
barriers they face in society.
In order to find
this unique story, Rethink
proposes to run a competition through three editions of the magazine ‘Your
Voice’. The competition will offer the readers of ‘Your Voice’ the opportunity
to send in their writing to a panel of expert judges from Rethink,
Chipmunka and other experts in the field of mental health and publishing. The
winning entry will be published in a novel that will be sold in bookstores
around the UK.