Thursday 18 January 2018

When fictional characters move from books to the REAL WORLD: mental health covered sensitively in The Second Cup by .@SarahMarieGraye #mentalhealth #Psychological #Literary #Fiction #depression .@rararesources 


…from the mind of a fictional character

by

Beth
(a character from Sarah Marie Graye's
 The Second Cup



Beth: Picking up the pieces
I graduated almost 15 years ago and have worked ever since. Yet somehow I find myself sleeping on Olivia's sofa and living on £70 a week. The Local Housing Allowance for Manchester is just £440 – not enough to cover the rent on my flat, so I handed my notice in. Then I discovered the council wouldn’t help rehouse me because I’d made myself ‘intentionally’ homeless. 

I’m hoping to top up my £70 Employment & Support Allowance with a Personal Independence Payment. I’ve spent days filling in forms. I’ve been told it’s difficult to get PIP, but to apply anyway as over 60% of rejected claims are approved at appeal. What a shame they don’t grant the benefit first time round and spend the money wasted on appeals on mental health services – to speed up access to services.
When I came out of hospital, I didn’t see anyone for six weeks. I didn’t know I should go and see my GP – nobody told me. And I’m not really in the right place mentally to make decisions. 

When I saw the psychiatrist she admitted I’d only seen her so ‘quickly’ because my notes referred to an overdose. Without that magic word, the wait is four months. I’ve since been discharged by the psychiatrist and referred back to my GP. I’m now on a waiting list for psychotherapy and counselling. The wait can be up to two years.

How am I meant to pick up the pieces of my life with so little support? 

 How do people without friends like Olivia and Abbie cope?

  Introducing...
 The Second Cup
Would your life unravel if someone you knew committed suicide?
Theirs did.
Buy NOW!
Faye's heart still belongs to her first love, Jack. She knows he might have moved on, but when she decides to track him down, nothing prepares her for the news that he's taken his own life.
With the fragility of life staring them in the face, Abbie finds herself questioning her marriage, and Faye her friendship with Ethan. And poor Olivia is questioning everything - including why Jack's death has hit Beth the hardest. Is she about to take her own life too?




Sarah Marie Graye was born in Manchester, United Kingdom, in 1975, to English Catholic parents. One of five daughters, to the outside world Sarah Marie's childhood followed a relatively typical Manchester upbringing... until aged 9, when she was diagnosed with depression.
It's a diagnosis that has stayed with Sarah Marie over three decades, and something she believes has coloured every life decision.
Now in her early 40s, and with an MA Creative Writing from London South Bank University (where she was the vice-chancellor's scholarship holder), Sarah Marie has published her debut novel - about family, friendships and mental health.

Giveaway – Win 3 x Signed copies of The Second Cup by Sarah Marie Graye (Open Internationally)



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WWBB hopes you enjoyed the theme 'from the mind of a fictional character'.
If you have an idea/theme that you'd like to write about and promote your book, please get in touch. I'm open to all ideas. - Louise 



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