Completely in Blue

Book excerpt: Psychosis can single-handedly ruin everything about you in the blink of an eye. Your mind is broken into pieces; shattered from the inside out. Your thoughts race and spiral out of control. It is as though someone else' mind has taken control of your own. You are no longer yourself. You are no longer anyone. You are no longer a part of this world. You could believe that you have supernatural powers, or that the laws of the universe simply do not apply to you. You could believe that you are a world famous musician, an accomplished scholar or that your private helicopter is about to pick you up from the roof of the psychiatric hospital. Rarely do we ever get a glimpse inside the mind of someone suffering psychosis. This is likely because it is such a terrifying ordeal that most do not wish to, or have the energy to, live through it again by writing about it. But Chris Curry knew that as soon as the 'bullet-proof door closed in the Bubble Room, the orderlies held me down, the needle went in and the straightjacket was affixed' that he was in the midst of a story that needed to be told. Completely in Blue: Dispatches from the Edge of Insanity gives you a bird's eye view into the series of unfathomable events that led up to his ultimate psychiatric hospitalization of three months. He leads you on an adventure into the extreme capabilities of the human mind, and shows you how extensive drug abuse can lead you from a nice, laid back musician to a ravaged, violent and escape-prone criminal in a matter of months. Enter into Chris' shattered mind as he slowly becomes convinced that he is a world-famous musician, starts a riot in his former high school, sells drugs for biker gangs, spends his nights dealing MDMA in seedy strip clubs, lights himself on fire with Bacardi 151, repeatedly gets detained by the police and is ultimately taken into custody at gun point after escaping from psychiatric custody. "Sex, drugs and rock and roll meet the mental health 'system.; For anyone who takes sanity for granted, this insanely self-revealing memoir will rock your world. Highly recommended." Dr. Paul Fedoroff, M.D. Chair, University of Ottawa Division of Forensic Psychiatry. Although this book does provide an inside look into the broken mind of an 18-year old, it is ultimately about recovery. The slow, often painful rise up from a broken existence that even those closest to him feared that he wouldn't survive. Curry now works as a public speaker, mental health stigma blogger and mental health and addictions counselor and through his life's work has proven that no matter how dire the circumstances are, recovery is always possible. "Ultimately, this is indeed a story of recovery, one that inspires optimism no matter how long or difficult that journey might be... This book should be required reading for high school and post-secondary social science programs and valued as a guide by mental health practitioners committed to eliminating the stigma of mental illness." - Dr. Pamela Prince, Director - Strategic Planning and Evaluation, The Royal According to Dr. Gabor Mate, the pioneer of the safe-injection site in Vancouver's Downtown East Side and award-winning author, it is a "very personal and wrenching description of mental illness. Very honest; very vividly written." If you, or someone you love, is suffering from mental illness or addiction, this book is a must-read. You can contact Chris Curry via http://www.chriscurry.ca