Do you know someone who is sick, struggling with mental illness and trying to find a way through the maze…?
It’s easy to look outwards for a recipe on how to live. And that’s something we all fall victim to.
For David, he was his own worst enemy and that path he decided to pave took him to insane heights and soul-crushing lows. In this autobiography, he decides to share it all and trace his missteps in order to find his own truth.
In his words, ‘this isn’t the kind of thing you read during a casual shit in the toilet.’ Innocence, drugs, mania, depression, and philosophies relevant to him at the time; he opens the book to himself and hopes the reflection staring back at him is also one that resonates with the reader.
We’re all one and the same, whether you decide to button up your person suit , or walk out the door chest bare, sharing is something we can all benefit from.
Patient Doctor Privilege delivers a unique insight from a mental illness survivors perspective. The mental health system is laid bare.
Being the subject matter and writer, David takes a no-holds-bar approach to decipher his past. From being a teenager fed up with the lack of guidance from the adults in his life, to an angry 20-year-old that thinks he knows everything and ultimately a man who had to put the pieces back together after being committed to several psych wards on a number of occasions.
He never saw the moment on the end of his bed thinking about the nature of the world resulting in him losing touch with reality. But it was the moment he broke through the pressures in the west: to be better; to work harder, and ultimately chase your dreams. That he realised nothing meant anything. The only purpose in life was to laugh when something was funny, cry when something was sad, move when the wind blew, eat when you were hungry and enjoy ever-fleeting moments.
However, being a disciplined, calculated, accomplished engineer, this new paradigm didn’t fit in with the persona he had spent a like time creating. On multiple occasions, these two conflicting worlds clashed and opened up opportunities for growth and self-discovery. But be prepared. While talking about his underlying issues has become second nature for him, and he has been hospital free for several years, his autobiography is confronting, confusing and potentially eye-opening.
Unlike the hero he thought he was at a young age, he closes with identifying with the coward within and admitting that just because he couldn’t see a future, it didn’t mean one wasn’t awaiting him around the corner. Similarly, to that which is discussed behind closed doors, he opens with inviting you to his ‘Patient Doctor Privilege’. He contests such a privilege needs to be dissolved for the collective benefit and admits despite the necessity to disconnect at times, that each of us, no matter how fucked up we are or even if we’ve hurt someone, we need to talk about it with one another.
