No Such Thing as Normal: From the author of Glorious Rock Bottom

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As Armstrong argues, we should try to question our assumptions about different behaviours and the value judgements we place on them. He points out that when he is delivering lectures, some people with autism will walk around the room. Clearly, that is not the way that most of the stationary audience are behaving. “But why is it ‘abnormal’ to want to move and learn at the same time?” She emphasises that we still need to understand the causes and consequences of these differences. “I would move away from the judgment of it being normal or abnormal, and think about if there’s an impediment that might be treatable,” she says. The term has since been employed for many purposes – as a word for empowerment, a means for celebrating qualities some neurological conditions can bring, and as a term of identity. But Singer had never intended for it to be used to describe a particular condition. Instead, she meant to for it to be used in a more general sense, to describe the variety of all brains. Mad Girl was full of engaging and sometimes witty extracts about dealing with poor mental health, and made for a relatable read as someone who somerimes suffer with poor mental health. The series is inspired by Gray’s own experiences as the parent of a neurodivergent child and as an ADHDer herself - a diagnosis she got only after going through the process with her daughter. She will talk with dozens of experts and people with lived experience to better understand, support and celebrate those whose brains are wired differently.

Gray believes that focusing on and celebrating the strengths of neurodivergent people - rather than the challenges - is one of the missing pieces of the puzzle. " The diagnostic criteria for these conditions is based on a deficit model. It looks at what people can’t do – not at what they can. My daughter Inez has the most incredible brain, she sees things in a way most people don’t. But none of her many diagnoses reflects that”. Megan’s passion is motivating others to approach life with an ‘I can do this!’ attitude. Her ability to share her story and encourage others to look at life through a new lens is only one of her tremendous gifts. These may seem like academic disputes. Ultimately, many people with conditions like autism find that the term neurodiversity (and its contrast, neurotypical) is a useful and positive way of self-defining their identity and their community. There’s certainly a need to reduce the stigma. I’ve always been quite a happy fatalist - the apocalypse is coming and it will possibly be my random clumsy fault, but hopefully if I nod and smile, use positive language, keep going with pace and use multiple exclamation marks at the end of each sentence, everything will be fine won’t it!!!!Organisations such as the UK’s National Autistic Society also have guides for employers on making their company more accommodating to people with the condition. This is not just of benefit to individuals – people with autism often have many strengths that would be an asset for companies, if only those strengths were better recognised and allowed to flourish.

Megan’s proudest personal accomplishments are as a wife and mother. Megan, along with her husband Jake, are raising their two sons in Nashville, TN. Jake is a professional musician and when either of them travel, the entire family goes along. Their sons, Bronx and Shai, are always in tow and part of everything they do. By recognising those biases, we can then change the environment to cater for people’s different needs. Some progress is being made – UK supermarket chain Morrisons have introduced a weekly “quiet hour”, for instance, for autistic shoppers who struggle with music and noise. A number of other big supermarket chains are now trialling similar initiatives. Mental illnesses] try to take over by turning you against yourself; by removing your energy, or by giving you too much; by cutting you off from the people who care about you and telling you that nobody actually does care about you. They remove all your sense of self-worth. They blot out all the hope. They tell you that nothing will help. And how do you even start to feel hope when you are under the influence of an illness whose main symptom is telling you that there is none? One of the biggest barriers to finding help is the belief that you are beyond it. Unfortunately, this is also one of the main symptoms of most mental health issues. We know, for example, that exercise can be one of the most effective tools for helping mental illness. The million, billion, TRILLION dollar question is, how do we help people with mental illness to want to exercise? How do we help people to do what is right for them, when they are under the malign influence of something that only wants what's worst for them? I was less impressed with the Boiler Theory and repetition of 'get out of your own way' (how??). Also, the anxious should keep in mind that Gordon’s list of worries in chapter five may give you new ideas for things to worry about. On the other hand, 'what other people think of you is none of your business' is a great point. I find that being an introvert helps with not caring about other people's perceptions (other than people I love). The same chapter raises the interesting question of self-acceptance and self-awareness. Gordon is adamant that you should accept yourself, not try to please others, and 'learn that a healthy relationship is one in which you love each other unconditionally'. This made me wonder to what extent self-acceptance is possible when mental illness stops you from seeing yourself clearly. What version of yourself are you accepting? Moreover, unconditional love and self-acceptance could conflict with the importance of boundaries, emphasised in the prior section. I'm a little uncomfortable with absolute self-acceptance: we live in a society and should be willing to see flaws in ourselves. This section could maybe do with a bit more nuance. Join Bryony for this exclusive event, as she offers a practical guide to mental health, building on her most recent publication, No Such Thing As Normal.

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I loved Bryony Gordon's other book, Mad Girl, and rated it 4/5 ⭐ so it's safe to say I had high expectations for her latest book. But sadly, this one fell flat... Mixed feelings about this. Initially I liked it: the almost conversational tone, the references to the early days of the pandemic, but the more I got through it, the actual style of writing became annoying (quotations that desperately wanted to sound profound, bullet point lists so long they lost their impact).

It was a time of incredible sharing and exploration,” she says. “I was just so overwhelmed with all these senses that people had that we didn't even know about – people who couldn’t recognise faces, people with extraordinary synaesthesia. There are so many things in the mind that we never imagined. If there is just one book that you read this year about Mental Health, please make it this one! I can not recommend this enough to absolutely everybody...those who live with mental health struggles or for those who just want to educate themselves more about the subject.No Such Thing as Normal, funded by NZ on Air, is a 10-part series that aims to help listeners better understand those living with neurodivergence. It is believed that at least 20 per cent of New Zealanders live with neurodivergence, but there is little awareness or support for people with conditions such as ADHD, autism and dyslexia. Journalist, author, podcaster, and activist Bryony Gordon has long been open about her mental health. Over the years, she has suffered from OCD, depression, bulimia, and alcoholism – most of which she did completely alone, just like everyone else who suffers from mental illness. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Live on stage, Bryony will be offering sensible, practical advice, covering subjects such as sleep, addiction, worry, medication, self-image, boundary setting, therapy, learned behaviour, mindfulness and, of course – as the founder of Mental Health Mates – the power of walking and talking.

In this final episode of the series, Sonia talks to 17-year-old Poppy, who gives a brave insight into her OCD. And we hear from some of the many people and groups who are driving change in the neurodiversity space. Gray believes the stigma around these conditions is the biggest hurdle those living with neurodivergence face. “We tend to focus on the deficits of neurodivergent people; we look at what they can’t do, not at what they can. Their many talents and strengths are often overlooked, and this has a huge impact on their self-worth”.

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It certainly got me thinking about mental health and how generalisable advice about it can reasonably be. The Anxiety Sisters' Survival Guide: Manage Worry, Panic, and Fear and Become Hopeful, Connected, and (Anxiously) Happy tried to cover every possible anxiety symptom and treatment option, which became quite overwhelming. By contrast, Gordon seeks to distil her own mental health struggles into lessons that are broad, hopeful, and universally applicable. This is more effective in some chapters than others, I think. I did wonder what audience she was writing for. Those who, like her, have been dealing with mental illness for years will have heard all this many times before, so perhaps it is directed at people experiencing mental health problems for the first time or wanting to support someone suffering from them. While the basic advice is not new, Gordon delivers it succinctly and well: sleep, breathe, eat, exercise, don't doomscroll, etc. She does not pretend that any of this is easy and has a whole chapter on asking for help. Usefully, this includes the NHS treatment pathways (in England, at least). Mental illness has led to some of the worst times of my life... but it has also led to some of the most brilliant. Bad things happen, but good things can come from them. And strange as it might sound, my mental health has been vastly improved by being mentally ill.'