Asylum

An Australian citizen would have to be mad to claim asylum in a foreign country. Professional engineer Greg Ralls did just that after a two-year taper off a powerful psychiatric drug. Diagnosed with schizophrenia but perfectly stable when medicated, he became involved with the Hearing Voices Movement. Fearing the possibility of post-Global Financial Crisis unemployment in the midst of a mining industry downturn, and identifying as a voice hearer, he was gripped by delusion as the influence of the drug wore off and bizarrely believed his future lay in England. This is the true story of Ralls’ dramatic unravelling, and the seven weeks he spent in London as an asylum seeker, locked in Europe's largest immigration removal centre.