Me and My Mate Jeffrey

the long version

Niall Breslin's life changed in 2012 when, in the aftermath of a massive panic attack that hit him minutes before a live television appearance on The Voice, he made a key decision. He could not go on as he had before, privately managing demons while publicly presenting a cool head. It was time to speak out about the crippling mental health issue that had dogged his life, since teenagehood. Me and My Mate Jeffrey is the result: an honest, gripping read about living with depression and anxiety, and learning to manage it; about the crippling journey to finally acknowledging 'Jeffrey' - a foul-weather friend and unlikely motivator, who provided his own roadmap to a way forward; and about the mistakes Bressie made when he first came to a crossroads in his mental health journey, and decided, wrongly, he could manage it alone. It is about a thwarted sports career and the viciousness of a condition that seems hell bent on wrecking everything in its wake - and the long road to reconciliation with brokenness, leading to its own brighter horizons.