Welcome to episode 170 with Lily Bailey who is an author, journalist and activist who has been writing and speaking about OCD and mental illness for a long time and in this episode, I chat to Lily about her experiences with obsessive compulsive disorder and how it’s affected her over the years. We also chat her new book, When I Feel Red, written for middle grade age children, about a young girl with Dyspraxia, which is a neurological condition that affects movement and co-ordination and something that Lily has lived with since childhood. We chat about Dyspraxia, how it’s affected Lily over the years and why she decided to write about it. We chat about writing for young people, and how she approaches challenging topics like mental illness when writing for young people. And we chat about navigating the challenging teenage years, being different, trying to fit in, the importance of telling stories and finding compassion for others through reading stories. This was a really lovely chat and it was fascinating to learn about Dyspraxia and the wider implications of the condition.  I highly recommend Lily’s writing as well and the new book is fantastic! You can follow Lily on social media @LilyBaileyUK If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast.  For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and help to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!