Suzy's insight into living with pain

Suzy Johnston Syrett

AN insight into self harming and the compulsion that drives it was provided by a Helensburgh woman in a Radio Scotland programme on Wednesday.

Suzy Johnston Syrett, a leading campaigner on mental health issues and who suffers from Bi-polar Disorder, was interviewed about the need for self harming on Radio Scotland programme "It's a Painful Business."

In the programme, Pennie Latin, who has recent experience of suffering chronic pain herself, tries to unravel the emotional and psychological roller coaster that comes when people find themselves having to live with pain on a daily basis.

As well as talking to other chronic pain sufferers about how they deal with their pain on a psychological basis, she explored the physiology of pain — asking why it makes us so grumpy, irrational and difficult to live with — and looked at the impact that living with pain has on the immediate family.

Pennie also examined why pain is such an important part of our lives - some self-abusers have been known to cut themselves because "pain is the only way they feel alive" - and talked to the mother of three-year-old Alyssa from Stirling who has a very rare condition which means she can't feel pain and has already done some appalling injuries to herself without realising it.

Suzy, who has told the story of her journey with bi-polar in three books, 'The Naked Bird Watcher', 'The Snow Globe Journals' and 'When Do I Get My Shoelaces Back?', and whose husband Michael Syrett also suffers with the condition, is well respected in the field of mental health care.

She, Michael, her mother Jean Johnston — who chronicled Suzy's story from the carer's perspective in her book 'To Walk on Eggshells' — and her brother Ollie spread their message through their website The Cairn and have now set up a training consultancy also called The Cairn.

The Cairn draws on the personal experiences of Suzy, Michael and Jean to design and deliver mental health awareness workshops aimed at a wide variety of audiences, including individuals with mental health problems, health and social care practitioners, student bodies and college faculty members.

* The BBC Radio Scotland programme 'Being Suzy Johnston' has been shortlisted in the Mental Health Media Awards, under the Factual Radio category.

If you missed Wednesday's broadcast you can catch it on BBC i-Player.