Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

A fascinating look at; the ways in which Black British people experience the Mental health system, the abuses faced by this group, and the ways that they have resisted this system. This book is an important rea

The Colour of Madness addresses the barriers that are put up between BAME mentally-ill people and the resources that they desperately need.

It is an important topic, one that so obviously and desperately needs more attention and focus from everyone.
I enjoyed the mixed media nature of the collection, with artwork also being a central part of the book.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to gain a further insight into mental health and in particular the experience of people of colour with this.

I want to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Colour of Madness is a collection of stories examining Black and Ethnic Minority experiences of mental health.

Unfortunately I DNF'd this book at around 30%. The idea behind this book is absolutely brilliant. A lot of mental health narratives focus on a white perspective, which is clearly not the only experience. We need to prioritise the voices of POC and otherwise marginalised individuals when talking about mental health.

However, I thought that all of the pieces I read could have done with a good edit, and the formatting of the e-book was poor so I couldn't make sense of a lot of the poetry in particular.

This book was a good collection of essays, poetry, and prose that document the experiences of minorities in the UK. It shed much needed light on the current experiences that are often ignored.

The Colour of Madness addresses the barriers that are put up between BAME mentally-ill people and the resources that they desperately need. It is an important topic, one that so obviously and desperately needs more attention and focus from psychologists, healthcare professionals and the wider UK population. Which means that I was so disappointed to find the contents of this anthology so lacking. Sure, the photographs were moving, absolutely beautiful in fact, but the quality of the writing was just not there. I suppose that is what happens when people who do not write all day every day, are asked to contribute to something that means so much to them. I get that. And it gets kudos for what it is, I just wish that it would've been more.

. . . . .

This was a truly enlightening and affirming read for me, as a person of colour living in the UK I could definitely relate to a lot of what the various writers wrote about the landscape here and the mental health facilities. I also appreciated the variety of voices this collection had, and while I couldn't connect to every single one, it was an important read regardless. When various writers touched upon the stigma of mental health in South Asian communities, I felt it deep in my chest - there's definitely more education needed as so many people are ignorant to the realities of how it works and that there needs to be more done.

I also enjoyed the mixed media nature of the collection, with artwork also being a central part of the book. There were so many different pieces which I really liked and were powerful in their own right.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to gain a further insight into mental health and in particular the experience of people of colour with this.

Highlights

The variation in media types

The insight

The amount I learned

Overall

This is a beautiful mix of artwork, poems, fictional short stories and non-fictional memoirs by BAME artists and writers in the UK about their experiences with mental health and being BAME ( Black Asian & Minority Ethnic).

I liked every single entry in this book but some of the hit me harder than others.

The Stories, etc

There are all sorts of media types in here; poetry, short fictional stories, non-fiction stories, research summaries, memoirs, interviews, etc. It had it all.

These stories explore all types of mental illness including depression, PTSD, postnatal depression, suicidal, bulimia, hypomania, and self-harm, to name a few.

I learned a lot! I learned that Shikism and depression are polar opposites. I learned that bulimic is more than just eating itself medication and self-harming through the medium of food. I learned that the UK mental health system and society has an issue of systematic racism in the smaller finer details of life which prevents some people from seeking help, and causes the patient to be mislabeled by their white doctors.  I learned a lot more too, and I hope the knowledge will stay with me for a long time and change the way I see both the society and the mentally ill of all colours.

It's difficult to judge these individual pieces as they are so different and personal. I will instead mention a few that stuck with me.

My favourite artwork is Daily Reminder by Avila Diana Chidume. Where a black woman sits at the dinner table with a spotlight on her table showing one pill 💊 . You can interpret this in several ways I did two ways: 1) The impact of her medicine is her daily reminder that either not everything is as it should and the shame with that, or 2) it's a daily reminder that we take one day at a time starting with taking your pill every day and see where it takes us.

Dear Friend with the Old Friend by Eljae is a poem on suicide which made me cry. It ends with these words:
So to you, dear friend
I say this:
I understand why you would stop; lean in, and let go
And I am so proud of you
for the fight
Because if this isn't bravery I don't know what is

Bike Dream by Temitope Fisayo was an insight into a black teenager's life in a white private school. He talks about the effects of racism and how he is told he is hysterical when he points it out, on his already worsening depression. This story was my favourite and is the story that will be with me for a very long time. It was a downward set of stairs and very well written. The story starts off nicely and normal and then sucks you in and takes you down the stair step by step.

Writing

As every part of the book is written by a different writer or not written at all, I can only comment that I had no problems with the writing.

Summary

That was an informative and emotional read.

It definitely set a seed of empathy in me as the conclusion wished it would.

If you are interested in mental health and like all types of art and media, I recommend this to you.

Let me start by saying that this book is absolutely needed and is vitally important. Mental health is seeing an increased amount of visibility in the UK but we cannot continue failing to recognise the racial inequality shown in diagnosis, care and treatment.

I have a huge interest in mental health, but I approached this collection as a white, middle class female reader. Whilst a broad audience should be made aware of the structural issues, I am not the demographic who will feel empowered or empathetic reading this collection.

I did struggle to engage with the book, but I think a lot of that can be attributed to reading it on Kindle. I personally struggle to read poetry on a Kindle and also the collection contained a number of artworks which obviously don't translate well across the mediums. I will be purchasing a physical copy of the book so I can better appreciate the collection.

As a British BAME reader, I can say without a doubt that this book is greatly needed. This book is a collection of 50 poems and art about BAME mental health experiences. Being a British BAME has a unique set of challenges and there is more that needs to be done to support this as our communities struggle to have these important discussions.

I highly recommend this book to BAME individuals especially and it was amazing to see myself reflected in the pages.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC.

This is a collection of over 50 stories, poems and art about BAME experiences of mental health. I was shocked to read many of the experiences and statistics and this book has opened my eyes to many things I knew little about. Due to all the different stories and how much there is to think about I found it best to have a break between each one rather than sit and read in one go.
As a minor point it would have been good to have the 'about the authors' with the stories as on the kindle it's tricky to flip back and see who was who with so many authors.

The heartfelt experiences and stories captured by the authors of this book demonstrate what life is like living with a mental disorder. Very well-written and a timely read.

This is an interesting read. There are some insightful stories and thoughts in it. I think there should be more help for and understanding of mental health. There has been a lot of thought and effort put into compiling this book. As a psychology graduate and someone who has friends who have dealt with some of the issues talked about in this book, I found this book to be fascinating.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

For those discussions we ought to have but do not. Great insights on mental health and illness, wonderful stories and heartfelt experiences. Thanks NetGalley for the eARC.

I had a very difficult time getting into this book despite the topic being of interest to me. I found it very hard to get through.

This was not the type of book I thought it was from the description and just couldn't get into it, therefore I will not be giving a full review of this book.