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 African and Caribbean people tell stories of struggle, strength and achieving mental health
BARRIERS 
 Lifting
NHS
 
 Authors Autherine Atkinson, Corrine Douglas, David Francis, Mark Laville, Sidney Millin, Juliana Pamfield, Peter Smith and Raymond Smith.Drawings by David FrancisPrint, Copy, & Design
- 020 7613 00452008 © The named authors
 Acknowledgements
Wewould like to thank Patience Seebohm for helping us to tell our stories and create this book.We would also like to thank Mark Whyte,ProjectCo-ordinator of the Mental Health Guide Programme,for his constant support and practical help.The book has been funded by Mellow,EastLondon NHS Foundation Trust,with additional financial support from Social Action for Health.We would like to thank both these organisations andTHACMHO for their support.Richard Neville,of Stories in the Street,shared his ideas and books with us.These gave us the spark which shaped thebook.We would also like to thank Baden Prince and Philip Morgan for their help.Pavilion Publishing has kindly allowed us to use extracts from thepublished stories of Mark (A Life in the Day 2006,Volume 10,Issue 4) and Peter (A Life in the Day 2007,Volume 11,Issue 3).Finally,we thank theteam at Access for heir helpful and flexible approach to the design of the book.
 
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 Foreword
T
here is an old African proverb whichstates that ‘until the lion is able to tellits own story, the hunter will always glorify the hunt’. In this book the story is truly toldfrom the perspective of lions.
Lifting Barriers is a collection of uplifting,spiritual and powerful stories from BlackWomen and Men who are in every senseof the word ‘survivors’; survivors not only ofan illness that has taken so many lives,butsurvivors of a mental health system that isonly now beginning to tackle its treatmentof Black people,and survivors of acommunity where mental illness is oftenhidden,a ‘closely guarded secret’,asdescribed by Autherine in the book.The stories reflect not only on the battlesagainst racism and the oppression butprobably the hardest battle of all,thebattles that rage within.The story tellers take you through their ownpersonal journeys starting with ‘Arrival,’adescription of how they came here fromthe Caribbean and Africa,and ends with‘Final Thoughts,’where the story tellerspose some unanswered questions andcomments for the reader to reflect upon,the most poignant of which,for me is:‘..Having a mental illness is not the end butmerely the beginning of a journey with lotsof twists and turns with plenty of ups anddowns.We have to learn how best we cancope and hope that the support werequire will be there.We must find out whatis best for us and to look forward notbackwards.Most important of all is tonever say die,never give up that fight andto help others along the way.’This book marks an important contributionto the growing field of survivor stories.For me,as someone who has experiencedmental ill health and who now works formental health services,it has been a greatprivilege and pleasure to personally knowsome of the story tellers but also to readthe Lion’s story.
Robert Jones
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