A lived-experience memoir
Psychosis: How I Escaped My Mind's Darkest Reality
A first-hand account of psychosis, sectioning and rebuilding life after a severe mental health crisis, written to help others understand what it can feel like from the inside.
4.8 out of 5
72 reviews on AmazonKindle, paperback, hardback and audiobook. The audiobook is narrated by Mike.
Who This Book Is For
Psychosis is often explained from the outside. This book offers one person's view from inside the experience, and what came after.
Families and carers
Understand how reality can feel from inside psychosis, through one person's first-hand account.
Readers with lived experience
Find a candid personal story about crisis, diagnosis and rebuilding, told without pretending the process was simple.
Professionals and students
Add a human perspective to clinical learning about psychosis, sectioning and life after hospital.
Memoir readers
Read a personal story about identity, losing touch with reality and finding a way forward.
What's Inside
What psychosis and delusions felt like from Mike's perspective
The experience of being sectioned under the Mental Health Act
The confusion that followed losing touch with reality
Mike's own experience of recovery and rebuilding
Living with a bipolar disorder diagnosis day to day
Hope without pretending that recovery is simple or the same for everyone
Choose Your Format
Read in print or digital, or listen to Mike narrate the full book.
Kindle
Read the digital edition on a Kindle device or app.
Paperback
A flexible print edition for reading or sharing.
Hardback
A durable print edition for your bookshelf.
Audiobook
Unabridged and narrated by Mike McDonnell.
The Amazon link is an affiliate link. I may earn a small commission if you buy through it, at no extra cost to you.
Read a Free Sample
A short excerpt from the book.
“I didn't know I was losing my mind. That's the thing about psychosis: it doesn't announce itself. There's no warning bell, no neon sign flashing ‘YOU ARE GOING INSANE.’ It creeps in. Slowly. Until one day you look around and realise that the world you're living in isn't the same world everyone else sees.”
“And by then, you don't know that. You think everyone else is wrong. You think you're the only one who can see the truth. And that belief, that absolute, unshakeable certainty, is the most terrifying part of all.”
What Readers Say
4.8 out of 5 from 72 reviews on Amazon.co.uk
Thank-you
A very real and soul bearing account of psychosis. I am a mum of a 21 year old boy who has had episodes and low mood over the last 4 years. I read this in one go. My son is now reading it and can relate, so thank you. Heart warming to see you living your life to the fullest, gives us hope.
Beautiful description of your experience
I really like how you weaved research into your personal journey. I think it's been a really helpful book for me as someone who has suffered with psychosis and in recovery. I really related to your journey.
Wow
Amazing! Raw, honest, emotional and gripping. I read this in under 24 hours because I couldn't put it down. Well done and thank you for sharing your story with everyone.
Extremely well articulated
An absolute must read. Mike's account, recollections and then recovery story will undoubtedly give hope to those experiencing psychosis and other mental illness.
Reviews are quoted from verified purchases on Amazon.co.uk.
About the Author
Mike McDonnell is a 30-year-old entrepreneur, mental health advocate and founder of Glide Marketing, based in Great Notley, Braintree, Essex. After experiencing psychosis in 2019 and receiving a bipolar disorder diagnosis, Mike wrote the candid account he had wanted to find when he was trying to understand what had happened.
Read More About Mike →