
About Bridgette James
I'm a British Writer born in Sierra Leone, West Africa. I write poetry and various genres of short stories.
I've studied English Literature, Social Policy and Criminology and worked in the UK as a Police Constable.
I've been published recently in the following Magazines:
Publishing History {Selected Publications}
2025
My poem: Journal Entries of a Failed Mother, was featured in the June Edition of London Grip.
London Grip New Poetry – Summer 2025 – londongrip.co.uk
My flash fiction, Hack off a limb appears in edition 33 of Ginoski Literary Journal-https://ginoskoliteraryjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ginosko-Literary-Journal-33-.pdf?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
My poem is in Allegro March 2025 edition.
https://www.allegropoetry.org/p/issue-34-march-2025.html
2024
My poem won the Fiction Factory Summer 2024 Competition
https://fiction-factory.biz/winning-poetry-competition/
A poem of mine appears in the publication below:
CERASUS Poetry Magazine # 3: Amazon.co.uk: Wilks, John: 9798340513328: Books
A poem of mine was shortlisted for the Renard Press 2024 competition
Building Bridges Anthology – Poetry Competition – Renard Press
I was shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize, 2024.
Wildfire Words, August 2024
Two Poems Appeared in Lothlorien Poetry Journal
Lothlorien Poetry Journal: Two Poems by Bridgette James
OS6 June-Aug 2024 (wildfire-words.com)
The Lake-
July 2024
https://www.thelakepoetry.co.uk/poetry/bridgette-james/
London Grip (December 2023)
https://londongrip.co.uk/.../london-grip-new-poetry.../...
Gutter (March 2023)
Dreich (March 2023)
Wildfire Words (5 times between 2022 and 2023)
https://wildfire-words.com/rem-poetry/#Bridgette-James
Fib Review
https://musepiepress.com/fibreview/bridgette_james1.html
Longlisted for the Aurora National Prize 2022
https://writingeastmidlands.co.uk/bridgette-james/
Bristol Noir short stories (2023)
https://www.bristolnoir.co.uk/flash-fiction-dont-knock.../
Our self-published anthology, What the Seashell Said to Me (2022) has been legally deposited and is available in the National Poetry Library (please see attached photo).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/.../B0BNJHYV7T/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?
Misjudged and Misperceived published by Zambia Arts Publication 2023.
Historic publications
1. Lice in the Lion's Mane 1995 (editor, Dr Hannah Hope wells; deceased).
https://openlibrary.org/.../OL232.../Lice_in_the_lion's_mane
2. Songs that pour the heart 2004 (editor, Gibril Sesay).
https://www.worldcat.org/.../songs-that.../oclc/62268752
3. Kalashnikov In The Sun 2009 (editor, Kirsten Rian).

Calabash Newspaper, Sierra Leone
To Download Free Pdf Copies of All My Books Scroll Down
About Bridgette James
I am a TEFL-certified IELTS Tutor
DOWNLOAD a FREE PDF COPY of
Misjudged and Misperceived
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Sierra Leone in the Diaspora
DOWNLOAD a FREE PDF COPY of What the seashell said to me

Bridgette O James was a Metropolitan Police Special Constable from 2014 - 2021.


Foreword
Childhood Schizophrenia and a word about Mental Health.
There is a dearth of knowledge of the magnitude of psychiatric disorders in sub-Saharan Africa and in Malawi, in particular, due to a lack of robust research. The situation is even worse for childhood psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. A community study done on the collective prevalence of common mental disorders among children and adolescents in the commercial city of Blantyre found a prevalence of about 7%. Studies indicate that childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is rare, affecting about 0.4% children globally. However, this may not be a true reflection because in clinical practice, even in research, the process of diagnosing COS is characterised by challenges because its symptoms can be confusing with other common childhood mental and developmental disorders like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Treatment of COS follows the same biopsychosocial model as in all mental health disorders to ensure that there is a holistic care. Biologically or medically, the main treatment line is the use of medications called anti-psychotics. Psychologically, there are different interventions which aim at challenging negative thoughts, increasing self-confidence, preventing harm, controlling unwanted behaviours associated with the condition like aggression, agitation, and social withdrawal. The common psychological approach used in schizophrenia is called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Malawians’ impressions or opinions about mental health until recently, have been negative. These perceptions are among other things, influenced by culture and most importantly, the history of the practice of mental health in Malawi. Historically, mental health practice in Malawi originated at the Zomba Maximum Prison where a wing called Zomba Lunatic Asylum was established to take care of prisoners who were seen to have developed psychiatric conditions. Psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia were thus, perceived as diseases of prisoners and outcasts of society. Furthermore, culturally, those suffering from mental disorders were thought to be demon-possessed and thus, were ill-treated and discriminated against. Given that Malawians, especially those in the rural communities, associate mental disorders with spirituality, this affects their health-seeking behaviour and pathway to care.
To make provision for the care of persons with mental disorders like schizophrenia, Malawi has legislation in the form of an Act called the Malawi Mental Treatment Act. Unfortunately, the Act is way too old as it was enacted in 1959 and got amended in 1968. The implication of having an old Act like this is that some provisions may not resonate well with the way of life in recent times for example, as of 2023, suicide was a criminal offence and any person found to have attempted suicide could be prosecuted. This is contrary to current international practice where suicide is no longer a criminal offence. The good news is that there are plans to replace the archaic legislation with a new one and this process has been initiated with the development of a new Mental Health Policy (2021). However, the process has been too slow because, this new policy, replaces another policy of 2000-04, which failed to see the enactment of a new Mental Health Act.
Dr. Precious Makiyi
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Specialist
MSc CAMH, MBBS
Malawi, April 2023.