Without my agent Susan Armstrong and my editor Francesca Barrie there would be no Breaking and Mending. A very big thank you to both of them, for their kindness, patience and wisdom, and to everyone at C&W and at Profile Books and The Wellcome Collection for believing in my story.
All the thoughts and opinions in this book are my own, but many people have shaped those thoughts and opinions and have helped to make walking this road so much easier. With thanks to the University of Leicester Medical School for believing in a wild card, and with special thanks to Professor Stewart Petersen, Dr Jonathan Hales, Dr Mark McCartney, Dr Tony Dux and Dr Amanda Jeffery. Your teaching and encouragement made stumbling through the back of the wardrobe and into Narnia an infinitely smoother process. To Dr Amy Adams and Dr Cate Bud, who made Narnia a very much nicer place to be. To Dr Chloe Spence, who always understood.
With huge and grateful thanks to Professor Wendy Burn, Dr Kate Lovett, Dr Regi Alexander and everyone at the Royal College of Psychiatrists for your incredible support and for allowing me to be a part of something I thought I would only ever dream about.
To all the incredible NHS staff I have had the privilege to work with, and, always, to the George Bryan Centre for rescuing me.
To all the friends and colleagues who have given their time and words to these pages. To Dr Claire Barkley for answering my many questions on psychiatry and junior doctor welfare, and for providing one of the most interesting conversations I have ever had. To Dr Ignasi Agell for his words and his guidance, and for being the doctor I would like to have become.
Most of all, to the patients. You will always walk with me.