“I loved this book. Its power is giving a real insight into a world that many of us are unfamiliar with but that we need to understand.”
CHERRY HEALEY

“Beautiful and compelling, often distressing but ultimately hopeful.”
PROFESSOR JIM LUCEY, Mental Health Commission IE

There is a narrative we’ve become comfortable with: Mental health services are underfunded and understaffed. But that is only half the story. The other half is messy and confronting; uncomfortable enough to make us look sharply away.

It is the story of the staff who believed they could make a difference, but were worn down by morally ambiguous tasks, impossible workloads and a systemic resistance to change. It is the story of the patients who are failed by hastily made diagnoses, overreliance on medication, coercion, stigma and inconsistency of care, and of the inspiring individuals struggling for justice and revolution.

With compassion and care Bella introduces us to a vivid cast of staff and patients, prompting us to look closer, ask questions and demand more for them.

“This book will rock your complacency towards how we understand and treat mental health..A must read for anyone concerned about our whole society’s wellbeing.”
TESSA McWATT, author of Shame On Me

“Sensitive and powerful. Bella Jackson tells incredible human stories with wisdom and insight. This is a very compassionate book. One that opens up a righteous anger at a system that’s failing.”
PROFESSOR SIMUKAI CHIGUDU author of upcoming When Will We Be Free?

‘A brave, lit-up account of going mad and getting better’ Jeanette Winterson

After a lifetime of ups and downs, Horatio Clare was committed to hospital under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act. From hypomania in the Alps, to a complete breakdown and a locked ward in Wakefield, this is a gripping account of how the mind loses touch with reality, how we fall apart and how we may heal.

‘One of the most brilliant travel writers of our day takes us now to that most challenging country, severe mental illness; and does so with such wit, warmth and humanity’ Reverend Richard Coles

From hypomania in the Alps, to a complete breakdown and a locked ward in Wakefield, this is a gripping account of how the mind loses touch with reality, how we fall apart and how we can be healed – or not – by treatment. A story of the wonder and intensity of the manic experience, as well as its peril and strangeness, it is shot through with the love, kindness, humour and care of those who deal with someone who becomes dangerously ill.

Partly a tribute to those who looked after Horatio, from family and friends to strangers and professionals, and partly an investigation into how we understand and treat acute crises of mental health, Heavy Light‘s beauty, power and compassion illuminate a fundamental part of human experience. It asks urgent questions about mental health that affect each and every one of us.

‘One of the most brilliant travel writers of our day takes us us now to that most challenging country, severe mental illness; and does so with such wit, warmth, and humanity, that, better acquainted with its terrors, we may better face our own’ Reverend Richard Coles

‘A record of the bravest, most perilous, most intrepid journey that any human being can ever make. It is stricken, moving, urgent, crucial . . . A luminous, beautiful achievement’ Niall Griffiths