I Just Wanted a Lemon Tea | Review

It takes a certain self-awareness to admit that you live with a mental illness — not least because mental illness is still far from accepted by society. I Just Wanted a Lemon Tea is honest and free of self-pity. In it, Fabio Macaluso describes his life with bipolar disorder: sudden collapses and small steps forward; crises, attempts, pain — electroconvulsive therapy, for instance, is still practiced in Italy — and growing awareness, while refusing to «be consumed by it»; acceptance and the discipline required to manage both the illness and the stigma that surrounds it. At its core, this is a testimony with a powerful subtext: navigating mental distress is only possible when you don’t face it alone — when someone walks alongside you. There is still a long way to go. Physical illnesses like cancer are generally met with solidarity, understood as serious but natural. Mental illness, by contrast, still provokes «fear or hostility, as though it were the plague».