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Reviewed by Scarlett Jensen for Readers' Favorite
A Reconstruction Quest: A Neuro-divergent Journey is a memoir based on true events from the life of the author, John F. Gerrard. He is a multidisciplinary artist, with a focus on visual art and music and combines his art with mental health advocacy. Since 2018 John has worked with the Neurological Foundation in Canada and interacts with neuroscientists by taking part in their initiatives serving the community. His journey is one of combating chronic mental illness. Divergence from average brain functioning has the potential for favorable or unfavorable outcomes. In his experience, delusional thinking in neurodiversity causes negative outcomes that include self-destructive behavior. Creativity is a massive part of John’s identity and it has served as therapy by expressing himself in his professional pursuit, which is a great source of contentment for him. The theme of this book is that for recovery, you need to reconstruct your journey and learn to change yourself. With anti‐psychotic treatment one has the power to improve. In many social situations, John isolated himself by feeling worthless and embarrassed.
In A Reconstruction Quest, John F. Gerrard explains that understanding neurodiversity was the core of his healing. His story shows how mental illness can overthrow your life. Being neuro-divergent, one has a heightened propensity for abstract thinking depending on how it’s nurtured. There is also an increased emotional sensitivity that can lead to numbing behavior by self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. Some altered states of neurodiversity are spiritual/positive and some are psychotic/negative. The message to those who live with mental health problems is that there are aspects that are separate from psychosis but wouldn’t exist without the potential for psychosis to exist. Neurodiversity, for him, means that there are parts of him to be proud of and that impacts on his growing self-worth. For me, this is a story of hope and insight that there is always a part of yourself to be proud of. With a lot of depth, John gives us in a clear debating style a story of intense questioning and thought-provoking answers to follow. It is an honest and highly recommended read.
