TRIGGER WARNING!
This website contains poetry and true stories about trauma, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, self-harming, depression and other significant mental health issues, as well as personal stories of emotional neglect and physical and sexual abuse, which some people might find disturbing.
Poetry for Mental Health
Supporting people with mental health challenges by motivating and inspiring them to write poetry.
Reminder: we rely on the support of our readers to keep going, so please donate to help us continue publishing and promoting poetry for mental health.
"Poetry for Mental Health has supported thousands of people around the world through words and poetry!"
"Formed at the outbreak of COVID by helping people cope mentally by inspiring them to write poetry; five years, seven books, hundreds of poets, and thousands of pieces of poetry later, we are still inspiring people to write poetry for positive mental health! With around 1400 visitors each and every month, Poetry for Mental Health is now probably the largest and most visited website for poetry and mental health on the net!"
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"No matter what your age, background and experience, culture or identity; whether an established writer with many published titles to your credit, or an aspiring poet who has never written a word of poetry in your life, our philosophy here is to embrace, welcome and support everyone, everywhere suffering from mental health challenges, and help you cope through words and poetry ...
Get writing!"
ROBIN BARRATT
Founder POETRY FOR MENTAL HEALTH
Featured Poetry
20th August, 2025
WHY? (A Prose Poem)
By Chris McClelland
Why do I feel this way, the scintillate sparks before my eyes, the miasma of fuzz that addles my brain? I need no drugs, no alcohol, nothing to dull or expand my senses. All is suspended. My mind quickens and slows and still I am suspended in a warm bath of love of family and friends. I am lucky. I have the luck of the Irish, so that I can always count on it when dispirited. But today my spirit is fine, I love myself, but in a detached Buddha-like way, and I have at this moment the all-consuming brotherly love for all humans, Jesus-like. I wish for fried fish on Fridays, but I have left off the Catholic ways, choosing instead a path that speaks more truly to me. I cast my lot with the Saints in the mountains of Utah.
I went off to the Air Force Base in the summer during college, for officer training. My flight leader was Golden. Lieutenant Golden. I started having problems sleeping. It got worse and worse. Why couldn’t I sleep? Why the racing thoughts? It’s been a long journey since that time, and I would hear the thop of the helicopter rotors as the craft flew me away from Eglin AFB. What was wrong with me? I slept nearly the whole month of August, 1985. A coma, the doctors called it. I saw Jesus in a desert. Was it really Jesus? He looked like a younger version of my dad. He told me it was not time to cross the stream yet.
I would pass out studying in the “stacks” of the UF library, wake up to the helicopter rotors and the soundtrack of The Wall. And amazingly, I kept coming back, trying to finish school, again and again. And I did finish school. Eventually. Then, a graduate degree. What drove me? It seemed story was the only thing that still made sense to me. Making order from chaos.
Many times over the years I went over the brink into that profound abyss. That abyss, the hospitals, wards filled with madness, gibbering insanity and still just to function during the passes from the mental ward. Please, dear editor, take this prose poetry and make sense of suffering. Make my pain into meaning. Help me to create the story that will complete the puzzle.
More than this. There is nothing, more than this. Just a healing balm and a meditative silence as the keys clack on the computer. Will any of these convoluted contortions of conscience, these hours on the flight simulator, ever bring back that ever-elusive dream of 1985?
More Featured Poetry ...
On the themes of mental health, from hundreds of poets around the world.
"Why is poetry so very good for people with mental health challenges? Because it helps them see the world in their own way, and in a way that makes sense to them ..."
Robin Barratt
Books
Click on the covers for further details of all our titles. With thousands of contributions from hundreds of writers and poets around the world, our anthologies are probably some of the largest collections on mental health ever published. Please buy a copy -
ALL
profits from the sales of our titles go towards promoting and publishing poetry for positive mental health.
We publish books for other people too!
Click here for further details.
"People can benefit from writing poetry because it can take the images and the talk in your head and transfer it to paper. It’s like getting the words out
of your head so that they don’t linger there."
Nadine Dunseith
Personal Journeys
In their own words, SIXTEEN incredible writers and poets write about their own personal journey with mental health.
Interviews
Poetry for Mental Health chats to SEVEN amazing writers and poets about their journey with mental health.
Featured Poets
Featuring almost SEVENTY poets around the world, with up to six pieces of their work, and a little about the author and the stories behind their work.
Articles
Articles about poetry and positive mental health.
Other ...
Directory of Support Services
Charities, groups and organisations worldwide offering mental health help and support to people in crisis.
Mental Health First Aid
Identifying warning signs of common mental health crisis, and how to guide a person towards safety and appropriate help. Read more ...
Self-Publishing Services
We publish books for other people too! Poetry for Mental Health also helps writers and poets self-publish their own titles via Amazon's global publishing platforms.
Mental Health Awareness
Safer Minds believes everyone, everywhere should have some awareness of basic mental health.
Newletter
Be kept updated with our news and calls for submissions.
“No matter how bad something may seem at that moment in time when you feel all is lost, it can get better if you can only give it more time."
Lynda Tavakoli
NOTE ON CONTRIBUTIONS: We publish mental health poetry from around the world, and for a number contributors to this website, English is not their first language. Unlike some other platforms, we don't heavily edit a poet's own work (if we did, it would then not be their own work!), so please focus on a poet's messages and meanings, and not necessarily on any grammatical mistakes or translated imperfections that may arise within their contribution.