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 abuse, which some people might find upsetting.
Poetry for Mental Health
Supporting people around the world through words and poetry.
Poetry for Mental Health
has supported thousands of people through words and poetry! No matter what your age, background and experience, culture, nationality, 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, and help you cope through words and poetry.
About ...
"I formed
Poetry for Mental Health at the outbreak of COVID, as a way of helping people cope mentally through lockdown and the pandemic by inspiring them to write poetry. Six years, eight books, and many thousands of pieces of poetry later,
Poetry for Mental Health
is still inspiring people to write poetry for positive mental health! And with almost 1500 visitors a the month, it
is now probably the largest and most visited website of its kind on the net!"
ROBIN BARRATT - Founder POETRY FOR MENTAL HEALTH
"It is undeniable that putting thoughts, feelings and emotions into words, on paper, can be both therapeutic and an incredibly effective method of self-help and healing ... "
Just Released !!! ...
My Mental Health
Writers and poets around the world talk about their own personal journeys with mental health.
For further details, to see a full contents list, and to order a copy, click on the link below:
NEW - This Week's Featured Poetry (x3)
Week commencing Monday 17th August, 2026.
A MENTAL HEALTH POEM
By Martyn Hesford
1.
I worry
it’s like water running in and out of every thought.
It doesn’t even have words,
It is there in everything I do.
It is gentle,
feeding me.
It is violent,
feeding me.
Waterfalls, raindrops, as hard and gentle as waves.
It is deep as the sea.
It is me.
There is no escape.
Only sleep.
A deep dead sleep.
2.
I am
inside
each
sob
It’s not just tears
I am
lost
in the ocean
I carry the ocean
I am
under the ocean
This sob
is mine
alone.
For you.
3.
I watched a ladybird
walking in eternity
from one end of the room
and back again
across a cold tiled floor
in the sun.
What was she looking for?
What was she trying to find?
She didn’t even try
to open
her little wings
and fly.
I looked to see if she was there today
but the ladybird had gone.
ABOUT MARTYN:
Martyn Hesford is a screenwriter whose work includes the feature film Mrs Lowry and Son, starring Vanessa Redgrave, and the BBC drama Fantabulosa!, starring Michael Sheen, for which Hesford received a BAFTA nomination. He is bipolar II. His poetry collection Ash Light concerning love and grief was recently published by Grey Swan Press. “Heartfelt and profound: personal yet universal.” — Sir Ian McKellen ‘Like a light from the shadows’ — Holly Johnson.
BIPOLAR
By Leonore Wilson
I float in open waters,
a rowboat without an oar.
I'm stuck in a burning building,
with every emergency exit locked.
I cried for my sons today.
I cried for my sons
because their mother isn't better,
I cried because of this affliction,
this darkness that descends.
The surface of my mind slips along
like a pale-grey stream
reflecting what it passes.
What do shadows hold?
Something? Nothing? I do not know.
Sleep, I say sleep, as the kettle boils.
Sleep, I say sleep, I desire sleep
like a blanket of heavy down.
Where is the song of the owl,
the nightingale, wren?
I seek beyond fragments,
I seek something unbroken.
Leaves shrivel as I look at them
and the woods vanish,
the earth recedes.
I find myself failing, fluttering,
descending
while the lost doves wail,
and my offspring
suck in their lips and tremble.
A CHILD LOST; A WOMAN FOUND.
By Lisa Taylor
Every memory that plays in my head
is a continuous reminder of a life already dead.
I am used goods,
easily discarded like yesterday's trash.
Nothing special.
A punching bag, a welfare check, a happy ending.
Just a means to an end.
A scumbag, a bastard, white trash.
Doomed since conception.
Destined to sift through remnants for any sign of an existence.
Labeled unworthy.
Hopelessly stumbling through the darkness for any semblance of light.
Left to mourn the pieces of a shattered innocence, one by one.
Forced to watch as you consumed them all
until there were none.
You were, after all, the master, and I,
merely a pawn.
To no avail, I have prayed to a higher power:
“Please release me from this life of sorrow.”
I beg of thee, my heart cannot bear it!
Still, it lies here constricted, buried deep in the wreckage.
Left to my own salvation, I relish the thought of a life
prematurely taken.
To unburden myself of all the shame.
To concede to the battles waging in my brain.
Achieving a euphoria I never imagined.
Blissfully numbing the pain of my own inactions.
Yet, here I remain, and still I rise.
Up through the ashes of the fires destined to bury me alive.
I will not quit.
Your flame will not thrive.
I am cutting off the oxygen supply.
Lots more Featured Poetry here:
On the themes of mental health, from poets around the world.
August 2025 to August 2026
Our Books
Featured Poets
Featuring poets from around the world, with up to six pieces of their work, and a little about the author and the stories behind their work.
And lots more ...
Personal Journeys
In their own words, writers and poets write about their own personal journey with mental health.
Interviews
Ten amazing writers and poets talking about their own personal journey with mental health.
Featured Books
Promoting poetry books and publications.
And lots more ...
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.
What's new at Poetry for Mental Health ...
Poetry for Mental Health's newsletter: July 2026.
Click the button below to download a pdf version.
NEWSLETTER
Send us your name and email address and we'll keep you updated with what's new at
Poetry for Mental Health, plus calls for submissions for our titles and website. IMPORTANT: we'll never pass your details onto anyone else ... ever!
Publishing Services
We publish books for other people too!!!
Would you like to see your poetry collection published as a paperback and Kindle, and available for other people to read around the world? Prices start from just £150.00 for a chapbook / short poetry collection. Click on the link for more info. Plus Promoting Your Book- information and advice for promoting and marketing your book. We have published over 100 books for other people. Just a few examples below:
We have published over 100 books for other people. Just a few examples below:
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.
