A LONG battle with mental illness is outlined in a new book which is raising money for charity.

Clare Allison, 52, lays her own struggles bare in the book which describes her mental health problems and the therapies she has tried.

Clare, who lived in Guiseley and Yeadon for many years, used to work for the careers service in Leeds and for adult education, but was retired on ill health with clinical depression and post traumatic stress disorder.

Now living in Whitby, the mother and grandmother suffers from emotionally unstable personality disorder and anxiety, as well as complex trauma.

In her book - Predictably Unpredictable, My Life Journeying Through Therapy - she describes her own experiences in order to help raise awareness of mental health issues. The royalties will go to the mental health charity Mind and Women's Aid, which help survivors of domestic abuse.

She said: "I wanted to raise awareness of mental health and what happens to people and the different therapies that I have had since I have been in therapy for over twenty years off and on. The book is a journey through life however with all its ups and downs. Nearly all aspects of life are documented in the book the good the bad and the downright ugly."

She added: "This book as the title suggests is a journey from birth to fifty plus, with many different therapies encountered on the way. It is a struggle with mental health and the effects of complex trauma in the form of child abuse and adult abuse in all its guises.

"It is a true story though some names have been changed to protect people. If this book can make you laugh, make you think and stir up your emotions then it has achieved something. It was created in order to raise the profile of mental health, to talk about the various therapies available today and as one woman's struggle for survival."

The book is written under the pen name of Allison Johnson and is available from Amazon for £14.50.