Above the Noise

How I learned to rebuild myself and stay sane in the process.

After the hit memoir If the Voices Come Back, Ángel Martin returns with an intimate and light-hearted yet powerful reflection on rebuilding his self and his sanity after recovering from a psychotic break.

"I was committed to a psychiatric hospital for two weeks because I started hearing voices I couldn't control. Ever since my psychotic break, I've paid extremely close attention to what goes on inside my head, and when I began that long climb out of the deep hole I had fallen down, all I wanted was to learn how to get better and feel ok again. I eventually reached that stable state of mind, but I soon realised that, despite the relief of everyone around me, getting back on my feet was never the endgame: the hard part was not falling down again. Since I've not had any serious slips along the way, I thought you might be interested in learning how on Earth I manage to stay sane.

Want to know a secret?

Getting it together after something has totally broken you is just the beginning. So, if you're trying to manage your emotions, temper your anxieties or turn down the volume on the voices in your head, this piece of advice might just be for you: try to get above the noise."