Personal Journeys
MY JOURNEY
By Howa Ramadan
From the age of 8 to 11 Howa was sexually abused. At 12, she lost her dad of an aneurysm, in front of her. At just 13, she discovered drinking as a way of blocking out the abuse and grief. In and out of trouble with the police, at 18 she was sent to Holloway prison where she was diagnosed with bipolar. In 2012, she was also diagnosed with EUPD (Emotionally unstable personality disorder), and in 2023, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD and drug induced psychosis. However, she is now on the road to recovery - she goes to the gym, writes poetry, and is studying for a degree in forensic psychology.
THANKS MUM
By Gail Rodgers
It took Gail a long time to learn how
not to be like her mother. When her mother criticized and mocked Gail, she'd support and praise her own child. When her mother was unable to see her, she'd eagerly accept, seek to understand, and see her child; and when Gail's mother's hands and words inflected pain and self-loathing, she'd hold, caress and nurture her child. Her mother made Gail the mother she is today, and for that she has to say 'Thanks Mum'.
SURVIVOR OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
By Donna Zephrine
Having someone you love and are supposed to be able to trust betray you and hurt you both physically and mentally is traumatic. It is something you never forget and something you carry with you always. My sister’s alcoholism took away the sister I once knew, and I have grieved for her ever since.
THE DAY I REMEMBERED MY SOUL
By Nolo Segundo
When I was 24, back in the early ‘70’s. I killed myself. I put it that bluntly because it was not an attempted suicide, a cry for help, but a decision to self-murder. Yes, it was a desperate act, a last attempt to escape what my mind feared as lifetime imprisonment in a mental asylum.
ANNA HARRIS'S STORY
By Anna Harria
Anna always believed that having a learning disability was enough to deal with, let alone subsequently being diagnosed with mental health issues. Exams, school work, struggling with psychosis, Anna couldn't cope with daily life, and was admitted to hospital. However, after leaving hospital, she eventually found a place for people who struggle with mental health issues; a place that supports each other with work and education goals - a community of peers who wouldn’t ostracize her or make her feel alone.
SINDY STERN'S STORY
By Sindy Stern
Sindy is 23 years-old and suffers with her mental health. She has always had an
underlying sense of loneness and sadness, which then developed into more serious
bouts of depression. However, through finding the right medications, right therapy, and right tools, she has started a new journey. A journey of hope.
SPRUCE CRAFT'S STORY
By Spruce Craft
Spruce was born under a bridge in Indianapolis, USA. His parents were drug addicts and they had no money to fund this child. He was placed up for adoption. His new mother broke him more than once. Angered raged within him, he used a journal to write down his feelings that even he didn’t understand then. At age around 10, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after a teacher at school found and read his journals.
LEARNING TO SUFFER, CAN POETRY HEAL?
By Jack Ridl
Jack looks at how writing has helped him heal. By the time he was 35, Jack had been in and out of six psychiatric units, lost a marriage and a young child, had worked with over a dozen therapists, been given a total of thirteen shock treatments, and taken so many drugs that several times he had to go into cold turkey before they “tried another.” Nothing relieved his suffering. And then he started to write ...
THE BATTLE IS WON
By Jason Kirk Bartley
Jason has master's degree in Ministry, his poetry has been published various times, and he has won a number of awards. While serving in the National Guard, Jason was stopped by the police for erratic driving. Because of his mental state and behaviour, it was suggested he attend a psychiatric hospital, where he was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic.
FOULWEATHER FRIENDS
By Lesley Warren
"I wrote this piece based on my personal experiences of dealing with mental health struggles while living in a foreign country - certainly an ongoing journey full of highs and lows, but with a hopeful outlook for the future."
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Share your Personal Journey ...
Would you like to share your journey with mental health, thereby sharing your journey with mental health with other people going through the same challenges?? If so, please CONTACT US for further details and contribution guidelines.
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THANK YOU to the following people who have donated to Poetry For Mental Health: Duane Anderson, John Zurn, Sandra Rollins,
Braxsen Sindelar, Caroline Berry, Sage Gargano, Gabriel Cleveland, April Bartaszewicz, Patricia Lynn Coughlin, Hilary Canto, Jennifer Mabus, Chris Husband, Dr Sarah Clarke, Eva Marie Dunlap, Sheri Thomas, Andrew Stallwood, Stephen Ferrett, Craig Davidson, Joseph Shannon Hodges, John Tunaley, and
Patrick Oshea.
