That Was When People Started to Worry (Paperback)

Young women and mental illness

Nancy Tucker

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'This is mental illness. It is unexpected strength and unusual luck and an uninterrupted string of steps. Then the next wave comes. And while you wipe grit from your eyes and swipe blood from your knees, the smiling faces in the distance call out: Why do you keep falling over?! Just stand up!'

Conversations about mental health are increasing, but we still seldom hear what it's really like to suffer from mental illness.

Enter Nancy Tucker, author of the acclaimed eating disorder memoir, The Time In Between. Based on her interviews with young women aged 16–25, That Was When People Started to Worry weaves together experiences of mental illness into moving narratives, humorous anecdotes, and guidance as to how we can all be more empathetic towards those who suffer. Tucker offers an authentic impression of seven common mental illnesses: depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, self-harm, disordered eating, PTSD and borderline personality disorder. 

Giving a voice to those who often find it hard to speak themselves, Tucker presents a unique window into the day-to-day trials of living with an unwell mind. She pushes readers to reflect on how we think, talk about and treat mental illness in young women.

Nancy Tucker is currently reading Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, after working as an assistant psychologist in an NHS mental health service. Eventually, she hopes to train as a clinical psychologist. Her first book with Icon, The Time in Between: A Memoir of Hunger and Hope, was called ‘stylish and incisive’ by the Guardian, and was praised by Jacqueline Wilson, Psychologist and MIND.