Jean Winter

Mindshadows Jean Winter

This is a true account of my life, an assessment validated by factual events and logical construct. It is not just a matter of opinion, of what is right or wrong, real or imagined. The story describes my experiences in the mental health system. The diagnosis is real, the medication is real, the reports are real. While my judgement can be seen as subjective, the relevance of medical objectivity is still questionable.

Who has the power to control a person's mind and who has the answers to what is right or wrong? The medical system's attempts to do no harm have failed and the mentally ill continue to suffer.

My ideas may not be substantiated by medical authorities and it is with this in mind that I have fictionalised characters. The settings and personal names cannot be applied to any one person or institution.

The problem of categorising text as fiction or autobiography is inherent in this story, as I use a fictional character to represent 'my' reality. This novel could be seen as a fictional text trying to recreate or imagine past factualities. It has been my aim to construct a true representational autobiography. A memoir is a reflection of a life lived and therefore belongs to the author. For what is truth or reality? It is a reconstruction of ideas.