For Alison, life with her son Daniel sometimes seemed like an endless round of difficulties: disobedience, backchat, rudeness, name-calling and aggression. Upon starting school, where his aggression and lack of concentration concerned teachers, Daniel was given a vague diagnosis of borderline Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which was later changed to ADHD with secondary Oppositional Defiant Disorder and autistic traits. In this honest account of the first 18 years of Daniel's life, Alison exposes her own worries, doubts, and exceptional courage at every pivotal turn in Daniel's life. Interspersing the narrative with tips and advice on what she has found useful - or not - in bringing up Daniel, Alison also provides encouraging guidance for teachers and fellow parents. This book also raises serious questions about how the education system supports children with special needs, and if medication can be the answer to managing ADHD in children.

'A stellar cast of writers and thinkers' Nathan Filer An explorer spends a decade preparing for an expedition to the South Pole; what happens when you live for a goal, but once it's been accomplished, you discover it's not enough? A successful broadcast journalist ends up broke, drunk and sleeping rough; what makes alcohol so hard to resist despite its ruinous consequences? A teenage girl tries to disappear by starving herself; what is this force that compels so many women to reduce their size so drastically? In this essay collection, writers share the struggles that have shaped their lives - loss, depression, addiction, anxiety, trauma, identity and others. But as they take you on a journey to the darkest recesses of their mind, the authors grapple with challenges that haunt us all.