Welcome
Suzy Johnston Syrett
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At the age of 17 Suzy Johnston Syrett developed the initial symptoms of depression with the condition developing into manic depression/bipolar affective disorder whilst studying at St Andrews University.
After graduating, her deteriorating health saw her being hospitalised on 6 occasions with acute episodes of severe depression. Following her recovery, she first became involved in mental health awareness programmes in 1999 when she joined the Education Team of the Renfrewshire Association for Mental Health. Giving talks to senior secondary pupils, social workers etc and writing about having mental illness for student psychiatric nurses led to the writing of her autobiography ' The Naked Bird Watcher' which was first published in the Spring of 2003. 'To Walk on Eggshells' by Jean Johnston is the carer's account of Suzy's journey of recovery. Spring 2009 saw the publication of 'The Snow Globe Journals' - a more probing and searching account of Suzy's battles with mental illness.
She is involved with the Scottish Executive’s ‘seeme’ Campaign that addresses stigma and discrimination whilst raising awareness. Having written various articles and features, she researched and initially drafted the '1 in 4' Scottish Association for Mental Health Booklet for young people.
It was following this that both the Scottish Government's Mental Health Division and some of the mental health organisations that she had been involved in suggested that she became an adviser on mental health, and so in June 2004 she set up The Cairn to publish, promote, write and advise on mental illness and its issues.
 
For Suzy, The Cairn (the Scottish term for a mound of stones set as a landmark) symbolises the recovery from mental illness; the foundation stones being the support mechanisms holding the mental health in place – the support mechanisms being the network that is made up of either family, friends, colleagues or professionals.
She writes on mental illness/mental health and their issues – either in an educational and awareness role, or as a topic for everyday discussion and debate, and in informative formats such as booklets and leaflets, as well as leading journals and magazines - including the BMJ (British Medical Journal), the "This Life" column for 'Mental Health Today' and newspapers in the UK and USA.
 Suzy is a musician/song writer with Bad Alice. Bad Alice is an acoustic duo which Suzy formed a year ago with Lindsay Robertson and their music is alternative rock, the themes being based on surviving mental distress, stigma and the social issues affecting the young of today.
Bad Alice have recently recorded their CD "Walk in my Shoes" and for further information on it, their music and work please visit the links section.
Suzy believes in the importance of good self-management for maintaining good mental health when recovering from a period of mental illness or a psychiatric disorder. Suzy is married to Michel Syrett and their home is Argyll and Bute.
It is her belief that being involved in mental illness/mental health should be seen as an ongoing learning process and believes that mental illness should be accepted, understood and respected by all.
The BBC Radio Scotland programme 'Being Suzy Johnston' has been shortlisted in the Mental Health Media Awards, under the Factual Radio category.
Michel Syrett has combined a career as a business writer with work as an academic researcher and lecturer. Writing for The Times, The Sunday Times and The South China Morning Post, and working as a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield School of Management, The Poon Kam Kai Institute at the University of Hongkong and (currently) The Roffey Park Institute, he has researched and written about topics as varied as business leadership, innovation,ideas creation, new work patterns and people management. He is the author of 20 books or reports on these topics.
Michel is also increasingly focusing on mental health issues, drawing on his personal experiences of bipolar disorder. The author of The Secret Life of Manic Depression, the booklet which accompanied the prize-winning BBC documentary Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive, he is on the steering group of a major research project Improving Satisfaction about Medicines Prescribed for Biplar Disorder, undertaken by The School of Pharmacy at the University of London, and is about start work as an Honorary Fellow at the Spectrum Centre for Mental Health Research at the University of Lancaster.
He is also working at The Cairn and recently he and Suzy were commissioned by NHS Education in Scotland to develop learning materials for psychiatric nursing.
To find out about either The Cairn Training, Education or Awareness programmes please click on the Training section at the top of the page or contact Michel Syrett direct to discuss The Cairn's presentations, talks and workshops or if you would like him to assist in the production and editing of magazines, publication materials or books for your organisation
Telephone - 01436.674999/6762
PDF file - The Secret Life of Manic Depression: Everything You Need to Know About Bipolar Disorder, 24 pages (365 Kb).
Current and completed commissions view them here
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