Journalist at Her Canberra magazine, Belladonna Took reviewed my memoir ME & HIM: A Guide to Recovery. … Belladonna revealed my tell-all teacher story of how parents at my school terrorized me until I screamed out with MAD night terrors.
“Karen Tyrrell escaped and ran to a lonely motel where police found her, incarcerating her into the frightening world of the psychiatric system.”
This “repeated harassment and abuse triggered bipolar disorder in Karen.”
“But fortunately for Karen, she turned her mental illness around on its head. She has successfully managed her bipolar disorder and not had a bipolar episode since 2006.”
“Karen has written and published two books on her bipolar experience and her journey to recovery: Me & Her: A Memoir of Madness, 
published in 2012 and winner of a mental health achievement award, and the follow-up, Me & Him: A Guide to Recovery published earlier this year.”
“While Me & Her focuses on Karen and Her (Karen’s manic, psychic, healer ‘other’), Karen’s latest book focuses on Karen and Him-her loving husband and number one watchdog and carer, Steve.”
“Karen attributes a big part of her recovery from bipolar to her support team.” Especially Steve who “bore the brunt of my manic and psychotic bipolar storms when I lashed out with wild uncontrollable outbursts. He suffered tremendous strain not knowing what was happening to me, his wife and the mother of his children. After my diagnosis, he shouldered responsibility in making decisions on what was best for me, my health and my long term recovery.”
“Me & Him: A Guide to Recovery sheds light on Steve’s role in his wife’s ‘battle’ with bipolar disorder.
The Importance of Mental Wellness
“In Me & Him Karen promotes the importance of our mental well-being, not just for those with a mental health issue, but for ALL of us. She provides practical and proactive tools and strategies, with chapters devoted to achieving a better life balance, managing your weight, sleeping better, meditation, mental health tips for children, becoming resilient, writing your way to recovery, enlisting a support team, and most importantly of all, how to develop a mental wellness plan.”
“Think of a wellness plan as a way to be preventative and resilient to life’s ‘curve balls.”
“According to the Black Dog Institute, one in five (20%) Australians aged 16-85 experience a mental illness in any year.
That is a staggering statistic. Mental illness is much more common than we think and touches people of all ages and from all walks of life.”
“Mental illness and mental well-being are therefore important issues for ALL of us. Sadly, though, there is still a lot of stigma associated with mental illness.”
Breaking Down the Barriers
“Australians living with mental illness are still experiencing stigma, are still struggling to find appropriate services and are still falling 
through the cracks,” Mental Health Council of Australia CEO Frank Quinlan.
“This is why the work of women like Karen Tyrrell is so crucial. Karen wants to humanise the face of mental illness with her wellness tips and proactive tools to recovery, and she works tirelessly to fight the stigma and break down the barriers of mental illness.”
“Karen has learnt many lessons on her long road to recovery. Perhaps the most significant lesson of all is the resilience of the human spirit, the power of the human spirit to triumph over adversity, to rise every time we fall.”
Read “Karen Tyrrell: Breaking the Barriers of Mental Illness” at Her Canberra. HERE
My self-help books are available on Amazon as print and eBooks …
Me & Her: A Memoir of Madness
Me & Him: A Guide to Recovery
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[…] ‘LOVED IT! This is a terrific teaching resource for primary/elementary school aged kids. A great way to begin the new school year.’ Belladonna Took: Journalist: Her Canberra magazine […]