Welcome to the Mad in America podcast, your source for science, psychiatry and social justice.

Hello, this is James, and welcome to the podcast. And this week, I'm really pleased to be

at a chat with author and educator Tanya Frank.

Tanya has worked as a college and university lecturer in the UK and taught middle school

children, teens and elders in the USA. She has also trained as a wildlife guide in California

and has been an advocate for people with lived experience of psychosis.

Tanya's work has appeared in The Guardian, the New York Times and the Washington Post newspapers,

as well as appearing in literary journals, including K-C-E-T-deparchers and Sinister Wisdom.

In this interview, we talk about Tanya's recently released book entitled Zieg-Zag Boy, Madness, Motherhood and Letting Go,

which chronicles the experiences of her son, Zach, who experienced psychosis as a 19-year-old.

The book is a heartfelt and beautifully written account of dealing with mental distress,

and speaks movingly and honestly

about the family's struggles with broken healthcare systems in the US and UK.

Tanya, welcome.

Thank you so much for joining me for the Madden America podcast, and I'm really thrilled that we can get time to talk today.

Thank you. I'm really thrilled to be here. It's an honour.

So to get us underway, as mentioned in the introduction, you're a trained teacher and lecturer.

You've been a wildlife guide known as a docent.

And most recently, you've been also an advocate for families with experience of

psychosis. But we're here today to talk about your writing. And in particular, your latest book

entitled Zigzag Boy, Motherhood Madness and Letting Go. So I wondered if you could, for the

listeners, kind of give us a flavour of the book and, you know, what it's about and what motivated you to write about your family's experiences?

...