The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About

Elfy Scott

EXPOSING OUR UNTOLD MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

An investigation into the failings of Australia’s mental healthcare system, grounded in a personal story of a mother–daughter relationship

Journalist Elfy Scott grew up in a household where her mother’s schizophrenia was rarely, if ever, spoken about. They navigated this silence outside the family home too; for many years, this complex mental health condition was treated as an open secret.

Over the past two decades, we have started talking more about common mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. But complex conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychosis have been left behind, as have many of the people who live with these conditions or who care for them.

Part memoir, part deep-dive investigation, The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About is filled with rage at how our nation’s public discourse, emergency services and healthcare systems continue to fail so many people. It is also a work of care, telling the little-heard stories of people who live with these conditions and work at the front lines of mental health. Above all, this timely, compelling book is informed by hope and courage, breaking down taboos and asking big questions about vulnerability, justice and duty of care.

Absorbing and mind-opening, this is panoramic in scope, while offering a deeply intimate portrait of fierce familial love and care.

- Benjamin Law

Expansive and generous … brimming with kindness, revelatory accounts and wit. The book itself is a thing of grace.

- Having grown up in a loving family where her mother’s schizophrenia was kept secret, Elfy Scott well understands the fear and ignorance driving this silence. But she also knows that breaking the silence is the only way to dispel the stigma at the root of our mental health crisis. With empathy and a sense of urgency, she explores the challenges faced and the ways in which they can be tackled by all of us.

Sydney Morning Herald

Sample

Release: Feb-2023

ISBN: 9780645240108

RRP (AUD): $32.99

Pages: 324

Format: Paperback & ebook

Category: Mental Health

Elfy Scott

Elfy Scott is an award-winning journalist, podcaster and presenter working in Sydney.

Pantera Press

Pantera Press is a young and enthusiastic publisher of titles that spark imagination, conversation and change. We publish fiction, non-fiction, illustrated non-fiction and a growing list of children’s titles.