Yorkshire children’s author Donna Iliffe-Pollard has joined forces with Surrey mental health therapist Lynn Crilly to tackle very real mental health issues in her latest book.
‘Snap out of It’ follows the extraordinary friendship of 15 year old Bea, an anorexic, and her classmate Harry also 15, who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
From the outside Bea seems to have it all, but you can hide a lot behind a quirky smile, a dodgy outfit and a one-liner. Underneath her clothes, her ever-shrinking body is fighting a secret battle that rages more ferociously as each day dawns.
For her friend Harry, life couldn’t get any worse. His world is fractured. As his bizarre rituals spiral out of control, the demon on his shoulder grows stronger and stronger. Screw life. Screw everybody. And screw relationships…they can’t even love themselves.
Donna, a Child Friendly Leeds Ambassador was drawn to write the book after watching a childhood school friend struggle with bulimia and depression. She says: “It’s time to end the stigma surrounding mental health in children and young adults, and what better way to develop a clearer understanding than through fiction.”
Mental Health Therapist Lynn Crilly is well known for her work in the field of teen anxiety and disorders. She says: “I welcome the government’s latest pledge to tackle mental health in children but feel there is still much more to be done. We hope this book will help families going through similar problems”
The two joined forces after meeting at a mental health charity ball and decided to collaborate on the book in an effort to normalise mental health issues in the young.
Mental health charity, Men Get Eating Disorders Too, has already given the book their seal of approval. ‘This book certainly delivers. It carefully navigates the struggles of the two main characters in a most powerful and thought provoking way, sensitively tackling many of the difficulties surrounding Mental Health, Sexuality and Identity in teenagers today.