The Octopus Man, by Jasper Gibson

Tom has been living with a schizophrenia diagnosis for more than 20 years, since a drug binge in his 20s. He doesn’t think he is ill – the voice that talks to him is the Octopus God, who is training him to help save the world. When Tom diverges from his God’s path he is punished and this can lead to a meltdown and hospitalisation. His devoted sister is literally at her wits’ end when she helps coerce him onto a drug trial that will silence the voice. But what next? Tom misses his God and it’s not like he is suddenly, magically cured of all his underlying problems. The story moves back and forth in time between Tom’s current predicament and episodes in his childhood and young adulthood that help to explain how he found this path. It is told with humour and empathy, which helps lighten an otherwise bleak tale of mental ill health and, despite some good people trying to help, the total inadequacy and often downright cruelty of mental health services. A somewhat unlikely ending was probably necessary to offer a note of hope, rather than the painful and heartbreaking reality for many people diagnosed with schizophrenia.