Dedicated to all those who find themselves in the same boat, both sufferers and relatives.all of whom, once this bizarre illness strikes, find themselves thrown into a chaotic situation that is always bewildering and often as downright terrifying as it is heartbreaking. If you love someone who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, read this frank, no holds barred, account. You may find your own fears, anxieties and hurt put into words, and you will know that you are not alone. The author of the original The Rough Guide To France tells the tragic, moving story of his son's - and thus his own - 20-year struggle with schizophrenia. Tim Salmon believes passionately that it needed to be told, for the 'outside' world - and he includes many of the professionals in that - know little of the daily reality of living with paranoid schizophrenia. His story includes his dealings with the mental health care services, 'a pretty shameful record of incompetence, buck-passing and lack of communication and co-ordination' and the mental health charities, whom he has not spared - 'for in their devotion to the sloppy, evasive language of political correctness, they have dangerously underplayed the seriousness of real mental illness like schizophrenia'.