Richard D France on the inspiration behind writing his own books (BSL)

My name is Richard D France and I’m originally from Sheffield. I was born profoundly Deaf and use both signed and spoken languages.

I work as the Deaf Support Coordinator at City Lit in London and in my spare time I have been writing books of my own that are about my mental health experiences.

My mental health journey started after I experienced discrimination at work from hearing people. This had a devastating impact on my outlook on life. It took a long journey of exploring my Deaf identity and even now I still experience bipolar episodes which can impact my ability to work.

Looking back on why I started writing, I won my first writing competition at the age of 10 at school, and was published in the Sheffield Star newspaper at 16.

I’ve always said writing is my first true language. After a serious life-changing incident ten years ago, I was urged to write and explore my own mental health journey on paper. It’s not been an easy journey but writing is my way of releasing my anxieties.

I actually worked in publishing when I lived in Oxford so I learned a lot about the writing, editing and publishing process there. I was also a printer then a graphic designer.

It’s easy for me because I know how the process of producing books works. I’ve seen the publishing industry evolve as digital technology is introduced and I think it will be interesting to see how AI will impact publishing too.

I’ve always written alone and I really enjoy writing. I’m inspired by life itself and people. Writers like Ken Kesey and Benjamin Zephaniah were a big influence for me in my early years. I also love reading Raymond Antrobus’s work as he writes so eloquently.

Through my books, I hope to communicate that mental health is not the negative topic that people think it to be. Experiencing mental health challenges is a life awakening experience that you can get through.

It’s also important to remember that mental health recovery knows no time so you must be open to options. Change the use of the word mental health to wellbeing and we have instant access to positivity.

Sadly I don’t think access to mental health support for deaf people is good. It took me 22 years to find the right psychological support that I needed. Deaf people are still having to fight hearing ideology and treatment decisions simply because people think Deaf people who sign can’t understand information.

It’s not just about language access, it’s about our cultural attributes and ideologies. We don’t exist for hearing people to determine our fates.

Through my books, I found that telling the truth about my past was difficult to write about as my experiences in life have been on the dark side. It was important for me to accept that my experiences in counter-culture are valid and influenced my life.

Choosing the path I lived was through my life experiences and once I’d written about it, I felt free to discuss them with others around me. There’s not enough challenging debates in the Deaf community.

Nowadays, I enjoy waking up every morning because I get to live another brand new day. That’s the beauty of life. Enjoy it all. The biggest difference for me was having Cognitive Analysis Therapy (CAT) with my psychologist at Bluebell ward. Without this treatment, I wouldn’t be here today. I have also learned to be kind to myself and to live a simple life.

By writing and sharing my stories, I hope to encourage others to fight for the right treatment in their chosen language. I also hope to encourage others to try different options that work for their wellbeing.

I’d like to encourage other people to be unafraid of challenging authority and to recognise that mental health is part of life, not a shameful stigma you must hide. Finally, I’d like to encourage others to write about their experiences so that society understands why sign language is so important, especially in mental health.

I currently have 27 notebooks waiting to be typed and published. I’m also working on the third of the poetry trilogy and this should be ready next year.

In addition to that, I’m also working on the follow-up to Comet’s (my dog) second illustrated book. I plan to revisit ‘A Tale of These Contemptible Suicides,’ as I feel the first edition was condensed. I’m always writing and enjoy this with a passion.