Author reveals his battle with mental illness after gang attack
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR GP Taylor has today spoken of his battle with mental illness and revealed he attempted to take his own life as a bout of depression spiralled out of control at the height of his career.
Mr Taylor has told for the first time of how he attempted suicide following a long period of depression brought on after a gang attack while he was working as a police officer in Pickering in North Yorkshire left him suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He said he has taken the deci- sion to speak out to help highlight the plight of the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale Mind (SWR Mind) charity, which provides support for almost 1,000 people but is facing closure due to a lack of funding. Mr Taylor, 55, said: “In my darkest hour I was living in Hell. I couldn’t see a way out. I’ve only managed to get through it with the help of my family, counselling and support for my mental health.
“If SWR Mind closes it is a matter of life and death as this charity helps people who are experiencing a mental health crisis who are desperate for help. A lot of vulnerable, isolated people who rely on the charity for support with things like going out, medication and paying bills will be left with nowhere to turn at a time when there is little support elsewhere.
“I’d urge everyone to support this charity and help save it from closure.
“It could be disastrous for the people living in Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale.”
The former vicar-turned-author, who lives in Scarborough, found fame when his first novel, Shadowmancer, became an international best-seller.
His books have since been translated into 51 languages around the world. But before his successful literary career, he endured the serious assault in 1994 while a serving police officer and suffered physical and mental in- juries that meant he had to leave his job.
Dogged by depression and nightmares of the attack, he took up writing while serving as the vicar of Cloughton. But even at the height of his success as he signed book deals worth millions of pounds with publishers Faber and Faber, he could not escape from the grip of mental illness.
Mr Taylor, who left the Church to pursue a full-time writing career, took the heartbreaking decision to kill himself, but his attempt was thwarted and family and support workers helped him make a slow recovery.
SWR Mind will shut unless it raises the remaining £6,000 of a £20,000 target in just two weeks. The charity has endured funding cuts and has to raise its own cash to finance services as it is not funded by Mind charity shops or the national charity, which it is only affiliated to in name.
If it hits its target, the charity will have time to secure the £80,000 it needs to sustain its long-term future.
SWR Mind’s head of services, Sophie Hall, said: “We have been helping people for 50 years now and we can secure our future with the public’s help. As Graham’s experience shows, mental illness does not discriminate whoever you are.”
The charity can be contact at 01723 588008 or by emailing info@swrmind.org.uk.