Behind it of course is the tragedy of what happened to Sylvia Plath. I called my book Mad Girl partly for her poem ‘Mad Girl’s Love Song’, which is also the inscription: You highlight her honesty—and that’s something very striking about your own books. Baring yourself in that way must be a very difficult thing to do. Do you think that that’s important for other people going through the same thing, to have that almost brutal honesty? But it seems to me that if, pre-pandemic, the nation’s baseline mood was one of fevered action brought about by a decade of immense political upheaval, then today, now officially into our third year of the pandemic, the nation’s baseline mood is one of clinical depression. And behaviour that might once have been considered a cause for concern is now seen as normal. Sorcha is pretty obviously vicariously living through Barb. She is getting her to do things that only appeal to her and that Barb has no clue about such as getting her an appointment with a woman called Anna G who Sorcha seems to look up to. What is more, is that Sorcha also doesn't really know what she is doing and is a complete novice at everything brand-management based. This is accentuated by them going to visit a brand that Sorcha set up an appointment with, but knowing nothing about what their building looked like, or what their values were, which led to a bit of embarrassment.

I have since discovered that A-fib is remarkably common. Last week, the British Heart Foundation released data that showed there had been an “astonishing” 50 per cent rise in cases in 10 years, up to 1.5 million. The increase is thought to be because of improved awareness of the condition, due to the huge risks of blood clot attached to it. But the BHF estimates that 270,000 people remain undiagnosed and unaware they have A-fib. I received an electronic advanced reader copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. Thank you to Hachette and Bryony Gordon for letting me read this before it’s release. I wanted to find a way within visual images of not hiding people’s thoughts,” says Clift, who collaborated with illustrator Kate Forrester in a dynamic creative practice that saw interviewees divulging their inner demons. Forrester transferred their most salient words on to her human canvases and then Clift took their portrait. “Painting on someone’s face is a very intimate act,” says Forrester, “made more so by the sensitive content. But the creation of these images was a surprisingly joyful experience. B: The thing about running or any exercise in general is that you will never regret going. People talk a lot about the physical benefits but whenever I’ve tried to do it for that reason, I couldn’t get into it because I was doing it for the loss, not for the gain. The moment I started doing it for mental clarity and endorphins I found it really fun. Kids exercise without even realising it, they just jump around and have fun.Is scrolling mindlessly through social media going to help my pilot light? Might calling my boss and explaining that I am feeling overwhelmed because I have a mental-health issue help to keep my pilot light on? NHS Director of mental health Mandy Stevens spoke to Bryony Gordon for the latest episode of the Telegraph’s new mental health podcast, Mad World. Here, she tells Eleanor Steafel why her experience of having depression has made her more determined than ever to help others suffering from mental illness. I’ve come to see A-fib as my body’s way of telling me to look after myself – when the palpitations strike up, it’s time for an early night and an extra litre of water. And while I had always lived in terror of having something wrong with my heart, strangely, it feels like the best thing that could have happened to me. Let Down Your Hair’ tells the story of sixteen year old Barb, known to thousands as @letdownyourhair, an emerging influencer whose platform is entirely based on her hair… until it starts falling out. Some likable characters I adore are Zal and Amy. They're the KEY 🔐 and Barb's life savior. Without them, Barb will still be a hermit. I love how Zal uplift Barb to not blame anything that happened to her past as it was TOTALLY not her fault at some points. And Amy was so straightforward.

Six months ago, Mandy Stevens was in the grip of a depressive episode so severe, it was a daily battle for her not to end her life. We then finally, finally get the reveal of what caused Jess and Barb to stop being friends. They were going to create a YouTube channel together but because of their ages, they needed permission from their guardians. Jess's dad had allowed her to, but when Barb asked Sorcha she basically ranted about how Jess is nothing and that the channel she was going to create was going to be done without Jess and managed by Sorcha. But what was hidden behind this, and had been hinted at in a previous scene where after the month-long break she only had one person message her and it is someone who had the same picture up on their account as the one of her mother which is when we learn that her mother isn't dead but gave her up because of drugs. It was obviously something that hit close to home with Jess so the only thing she could think is that Barb was lying to her to get close to her or gain sympathy points or something like that, which even her father wasn't suspecting but she was hurt. Doesn't excuse her actions though. The great thing about Reasons to Stay Alive—apart from the fact that it is brilliantly written, and apart from the fact that it is a really amazing portrayal of being suicidal, and apart from the fact that it is a book that really chimes with people—is that it is an easy book, in a depressive state of mind, to dip in and out of, and find that solace. The good news is that if caught early, OCD is very treatable, with psychotherapy. And even if you end up waiting until you’re 35 for proper treatment, as I did, you can still get help for the condition. I find that OCD is at its worst when I am stressed and not looking after myself. Coffee exacerbates it hugely, and exercise helps massively. There are books I read by other OCD sufferers when I am in the midst of an episode. Pure by Rose Bretecher provides one of the best insights into the condition; David Adam’s The Man Who Couldn’t Stop is also worth a read. For children, Lily Bailey has written a beautiful book called When I See Blue. I wanted to write a practical book that collected all the things that I have learnt about being mentally well, that I could only have learnt from being very, very ill. No Such Thing as Normal became a labour of love, a way for me to cut through the wellness psychobabble that has come to dominate the mental-health conversation on social media.M: Yes, it is. I’ve had OCD since I was 9 and then I got very bad postnatal depression after my second child. I think that sharing stories of mental illness is really, really important because the thing that all mental illnesses have in common is that they lie to you. They tell you you are a freak. I always say that if mental illness was a politician, it will be Nigel Farage. It wouldn’t be nice to you. It tells you you’re a freak, and it tells you you are weird, and it tells you nobody else feels the same way that you do. And… that’s just bullshit. I bumped into a friend at the weekend and she cried on me. Another friend told me she felt frozen in time, unable to move forward for fear of some other terrible pandemic-related news coming along to mess everything up.