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Blink to publish Elliot Sweeney’s ‘illuminating’ memoir of life working on the frontline of mental health

Blink Publishing, the commercial non-fiction imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has acquired We Don’t Use Words Like ‘Crazy’ by mental health nurse Elliot Sweeney. Publishing Director, Ciara Lloyd, acquired UK & Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Gordon Wise at Curtis Brown in a five publisher auction.

We Don’t Use Words Like ‘Crazy’ is a ‘professional confessional’ from a community psychiatric nurse who works on the frontline of mental health services. His touching and often humorous memoir lifts the lid on the realities of the profession, in an attempt to highlight the need for compassion for some of the most vulnerable people in the world, and the very committed people that work with them on a professional basis.

The book is for anyone who wants to know what it’s really like to work in contemporary mental health services in the UK, and why people like Elliot stick at it. Described as ‘funny, frank and beautifully observed’, Elliot’s memoir explores all aspects of mental health care, including hospital, youth care, dementia, community care, and the more extreme experience of working with risk, highlighting a service that underpins our society and that reflects the full spectrum of humanity.

Elliot Sweeney said: ‘I’ve worked in mental health for two decades now and have accumulated a trove of stories. To be given the chance to open the door into this unusual vocation feels a privilege, and I’m immeasurably grateful to my editor Ciara for her boundless support and enthusiasm and my agent Gordon for his indefatigable belief. My hope with this book is to dispel a few myths, expose some realities, and share the laughs and heartbreaks that come when working in frontline mental health care.’

Ciara Lloyd said: ‘I first read Elliot’s impassioned article in The Times, where he detailed a number of his frontline experiences as a psychiatric nurse and I was instantly taken by his idea for a memoir. The result is a beautifully insightful and important book. Elliot weaves in levity and humour into some very dark subject matter, and highlights some of our society’s most vulnerable people as well as the incredible people who help care for them. Elliot is such a talented writer; We Don’t Use Words Like ‘Crazy’ is a call to arms that everyone should read and I am incredibly proud that we get to publish it here at Blink.’

Elliot was born in London, but spends his time between the capital and his adopted home in Lancashire. By day he’s a community psychiatric nurse specialising in adolescent mental health and post-traumatic stress. Whenever possible, he’s writing fiction and non-fiction, hoping to fuse his professional interests with his love of fast-paced novels. 

We Don’t Use Words Like ‘Crazy’ will be published in hardback, ebook and audio in April 2025 by Blink.