Soul Survivor

Gwendoline Smith is a best-selling author, in-demand psychologist, breast cancer survivor and she’s bipolar. Colourful, bold and not one to shy away from the issue, she talks candidly about her own experiences and why we need to destigmatise mental illness.

- Judy Bailey

Gwendoline Smith, aka Dr Know, is a colourful character in so many ways. Her self-help offering The Book of Knowing spent 10 weeks this year at the top of the New Zealand best-seller list. A writer, speaker and psychologist, she specialises in depression and anxiety. The success of her book, she says, shows the enormity of the need out there. In it, she shows you how you think and how that dictates the way you feel.

She is waiting for me outside her home in inner-city Auckland, a splash of colour on an otherwise dull winter’s day. She’s sporting a pair of bright red sneakers, a multi-coloured top and a faux fur waistcoat, topped by a pair of large-framed glasses to match her sizeable earrings. She is warm, enthusiastic, welcoming.

That she has long been a household name in psychology circles is testament not only to the quality of work she does but also to her strength and resilience, because Gwendoline herself struggles with mental illness. She is bipolar. “It’s tough because when I have a manic episode, it takes months to recover. It’s like a having a brain injury,” she explains. “You have to wait for the antidepressants to work. It takes a long time for spontaneous conversation, innovation and creativity to return. Being a sole trader means that I have to put my business on hold for that time. But I’m lucky I have a great relationship with the GPs who recommend me; they obviously think I’m worth waiting for,” she grins.