Learning to Breathe: My Journey With Mental Illness

by Rachael Newham

Overview

It begins slowly, so slowly that I hardly notice at first. My chest tightens and my heart begins to beat a fraction faster. I try to draw breath, but instead I choke on oxygen I can’t inhale. As I realise that I can't breathe, the panic wraps itself around my mind.

I can't make myself draw a breath.

Rachael was aged just six when she had her first suicidal thought. Over the next decade, life would become increasingly fraught with depression and self-harm, and her outlook only bleaker. Before her eighteenth birthday, Rachael would twice try to take her own life.

And yet amidst this darkness, a flicker of faith lived on.

This is Rachael's story of her journey into, and out of, the darkness of depression. With unflinching realism and complete honesty, she shows us what it looks like to live with mental illness, and how God can find us and rescue us even in the most desperate of places.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780281078080
Publisher:	SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge)
Publication date:	08/16/2018
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rachael Newham is the Founding Director of ThinkTwice, a mental health awareness charity and a graduate of the London School of Theology. She is an associate at Mind and Soul, a trainer for selfharmUK, and regularly writes features and articles for Premier Youthwork magazine and Threads.

Table of Contents

About the author ix

Acknowledgements xi

Prologue 1

Introduction 5

1 First breaths 9

2 Struggling for air 21

3 Suffocation 47

4 Resuscitation 99

5 Learning to breathe 121

Epilogue 135

Appendix 139

Resources 141

Notes 147

Editorial Reviews

Learning to Breathe is a companion I would recommend for any Christian who is struggling with the desolation of mental illness. Woven with the threads of her tears and God's love for her, this is a truly precious read.

Depression is something that is unique to each person in their experience, yet overwhelmingly familiar in the telling. Here, I have read so much of my own panic, fear and pain as I journeyed through Rachael's life. It is a beautifully written, hope filled tale, that is informative, encouraging and easy to read for those whose brains feel lost in that familiar fog of despair. It highlights God's love and gentleness in the pain and gently points to the fact that recovery can mean many things, it doesn't always mean everything is 100% bliss and peace.

This is an unflinchingly honest account of an epic struggle with severe depression. Interwoven with biblical and psychological reflections, Rachael’s story is testament to God’s faithfulness, the love of her family and friends and her own breath-taking courage.

From the Publisher