The Ginger Cat Presents An Evening with Gavin Francis

Join multi-award-winning author and GP, Gavin Francis as he discusses his new book, The Unfragile Mind The Ginger Cat Presents An Evening with Gavin Francis Join us for an evening with multi-award-winning author and GP, Gavin Francis as he discusses his new book, The Unfragile Mind, followed by an audience Q&A. Between a quarter and a fifth of young people in the UK now suffer a mental disorder. One in four adults are prescribed psychiatric medication. These numbers represent a huge and recent expansion in mental health labelling, but reveal nothing of the experience of those seeking help. In The Unfragile Mind, Gavin draws on conversations with patients, colleagues, and his thirty years of practice to explore the chequered history of psychiatry, the nature of mental health and ill-health, and the problems - including mood disorders, trauma, anxiety and addiction - that he addresses daily. The mind, he argues, is dynamic and adaptive - better addressed not with rigid labels and protocols, but with curiosity, kindness, humility and hope. The chair for this event will be author Graham Morgan who is the author of two memoirs (START and Blackbird Singing) which are about his life with schizophrenia. He has an MBE for services to mental health and was awarded the Andy Lawless Award for changing attitudes to mental health. For most of his adult life he has been speaking out with his community to try to improve the lives of people with a mental illness, this includes speaking at the United Nations, the British Academy and influencing Scottish Mental Health Legislation . Both Gavin's and Graham's books will be available to purchase and have signed on the night. *Please note there is a small access step within this venue. Gavin's previous work includes: Adventures in Human Being (2015) Sunday Times Bestseller and Saltire Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2015, Observer’s Science Book of the Year, and was a winner in the BMA Book Awards. Shapeshifters: On Medicine & Human Change (2018) a book of the year in the Sunday Times and the Scotsman. Intensive Care: a GP, a Community, & a Pandemic (2021) notable book of the year in The Herald, Scotsman, Financial Times, Observer, Irish Times, and New Statesman. Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence (2022) Sunday Times bestseller. Free For All – Why the NHS is Worth Saving (2023) a passionate defence of the founding principles of the NHS, and an exploration of how and why it should be supported.