A Speccy Man Has a Breakdown | The Book

A psychiatric admission. A new pair of glasses. A sketchbook

Book cover showing a man in glasses doing sun salute with arms raised but eyes down on a yoga mat. Text shows book title, author's name and, beneath the drawing, 'A psychiatric admission.
A sketchbook. 124 pages.'

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About the book

A few years ago, John-Paul Flintoff told his wife he thought he was worthless and wished he was dead.

She sent him to a psychiatrist, and shortly after collecting his first pair of spectacles, he had himself admitted to hospital.

He forgot to pack a toothbrush. He did take a sketchbook and pens.

Over the following weeks – and the difficult months that followed – he drew everything: the nurses, the patients, the visitors, the food, the view from the window. Nearly 300 drawings. He also wrote, in the same deadpan tone he’d used for years as a journalist at the Financial Times and the Sunday Times.

This is that account.

It is not a recovery manual. It is not an inspirational story. It is simply what happened – told with the same attention he would give any assignment – and illustrated, on almost every page, by the man who was there.

For anyone who has wondered what it is actually like inside, and why it’s hard to come out.

The book as an object

124 pages. Almost every page illustrated. First edition of 250 copies, each numbered and signed.

Every copy includes a signed, numbered A5 art print: “Do Your Tapping and Think of Something Pleasant (Anything)”.

Gentle drawing of a figure tapping his own shoulders and knees, with handwritten instructions.

One art print with each copy of the book

The book is about to go to print. Buy now and your name will appear in the printed thank-you page at the back.

The book already has readers in the UK, Canada, the US, Spain, Malta, Singapore and beyond. See who has already bought a copy.

Inside the book

Double page spread showing man with spectacles, face yellow, looking downcast. Text describes him meeting a psychiatrist, then going into hospital and deciding to tell friends.

Double page spread showing view from the third floor over an inner courtyard and, facing page, someone eating without looking up while a voice calls from offstage 'get your hands off me!'

Double page spread showing a single image, a group of people in a therapy session looking towards the viewer with mostly anxious expressions. Text describes the mix of professions met by the author in hospital.

Double page spread showing on left the author with a variety of expressions and moods and on right a big smiling face. Text says he learned to recognise that he contains many versions of himself.

What readers say

“Thank you for sharing this very difficult part of your life. If I can add my voice to those who’ve already told you how important this is. It means more than you’ll ever know, to so many people, to share your story.” – Reader

“You see so many pictures of smiling people who are, at the same time, suicidal. Their friends or family say they had no idea, or wish they had known. We need to practise asking for help – it’s a learned behaviour (social skill) with its own social obstacles of not being ‘selfish’ etc. Thank you for saying the quiet bits out loud.” – Reader

“The drawing is so simple and expressive. I suppose it took a few minutes to do – plus a lifetime.” – Reader

For buyers: the making-of archive

Everyone who buys a copy of the first edition gets access to the full email series JPF wrote while making the book — a day-by-day account of choosing from ~300 drawings, against a self-imposed 30-day deadline, told from the inside, including audio recordings of each entry read aloud by the author.

Get your copy

First edition. 250 copies. £45 + shipping.

Buy with Shipping in 🇬🇧 UK
Buy with Shipping across 🇪🇺 Europe
Buy with Shipping 🌎 globally