On the Edge

Working in acute mental health is a challenging yet rewarding experience bringing the practitioner into contact with people who are usually in some form of emotional crisis and who are having to confront demons that can take them to the edge.

Hilary Elfick & David Head have written a collection of poems which vividly depict some of these life events which can take people almost to the point of no return.

The Collection is graphic and illustrative. The emotions desribed are raw and painful. 'Cutting', 'Nursery Rhyme' and 'Infection' describe the horror of sexual abuse. 'The day my grandfather died' makes us confront the impact of tragic, violent death on the family left behind. The themes that run through the book illustrate what it feels like for people living at the edge - sadness, fear, emptiness, grief, guilt and self hatred.

But whereas some of the poems are disturbing and dark, others are uplifting and optimistic in that they portray the courage of human exsistence and the possibility of recovery when all seems lost. On The Edge is a unique collection that emphasises the frality and yet the courage of the mind. I would recommend this book for professional carers as well as for the families of patients afeected by such issues.

Dr Mark Sherman MBBS M.R.C.Psych

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