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By Jason Pegler.
Chipmunka Publishing
£12
ISBN 0 95422108 0

Jason Pegler suffers from manic depression and his book, A Can of Madness, catalogues how his illness nearly destroyed him, those close to him and numerous friends and lovers along the way. Drugs and alcohol come and go, and the slide into addiction, as an unforeseen consequence of pain relief, is powerfully described.

This autobiographical work is an outpouring and as such there are few clear lessons.

At the end, after 10 years of self-harm, Pegler has a recovery plan - an action plan, put together with the help of his psychologist. He is in a stable relationship, with hopes for the future, the same hopes all of us have.

The hidden lesson of the book is that health and social care services need to intervene early. Not doing so can ruin adult lives and waste untold resources on reluctant adults.

A Can of Madness is compulsive stuff, and worth reading to understand better the numbing daily experience many service users go through.

Like much of social work, it is short of answers and, like social work, its inherent optimism that life can only get better keeps Pegler - and the reader - going.

Anthony Douglas is director of social care and health, Suffolk Council.