Changes

AY: Thank you. I think I've probably answered this question in the question above … my own fear of going mad fuelled my imagination as I wrote SPEAKING of LOVE and I gave both Iris and Vivie parts of those fears and the situations that those fears inspired … and, for instance, the scene when the psychiatrist dances with Iris, was a scene I witnessed when I was present at an admission (not my mother's, nor my own) to a mental institution. Also, I spent some years in therapy and – I hope – that as I grew to understand myself I became better at understanding the human psyche in general and I realised that the things that frightened me would not be unlike the things that frighten many of us. I also did much research: I read – the bibliography at the back of the novel lists the books that taught me the most – and I talked to schizophrenics, one of whom told me that it was just as frightening suffering from the illness as it is to witness it. I also talked to people who care for those with mental illness – at Bethlem, particularly, and at MIND – and I spoke to people who were resident at Bethlem. And I read novels that treated madness or altered mental states and I watched movies, [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl,_Interrupted_ Girl, Interrupted] (film) and [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Beautiful_Mind_ A Beautiful Mind] (film) in particular.