I’d like to give a little more context about the book of poetry I published in January.
I don’t want anyone to buy it and be confused or not completely aware of the topics discussed in the poems. In the “Foreword” of the book, I am very specific about the fact that all the poems are not necessarily about me. The “Foreword” is below:
“The majority of the poems are loosely based on my life. I’ve made creative changes to distance myself from them. There are some poems that I took inspiration from real-life stories while in-patient and out-patient in the psychiatric hospital and fictionalized those experiences.”
Also, written on the back cover is:
“These poems explore various stages of mental illness, from newly diagnosed and scared having only limited knowledge and understanding of the illness, to the heart-wrenching highs and lows that come in the middle of these disorders, and finally to learning how to live day to day with a mental illness. The poems represent different mental illnesses and the ways they affect the people diagnosed with these disorders and their loved ones. Some of the topics the poems address are bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder, psychosis, self-harm, suicide ideation, and psychiatric hospitalization.”
I would like to emphasize that this book is not an easy read. It does not necessarily have a happy ending, but I am still here. I am living my life day by day. I consider that to be a positive outcome. That is the hope that I want people to get from this book. I want people who read this book to see that someone with a mental illness can go through the extreme hardship that mental illness puts one through and you can make it out. I made it out. I survived. Yes, I will live with a mental illness the rest of my life. I will have and have had setbacks, but I now know that I can get through them.
I had an mental health setback last year around this time (February 2025), and it took about nine months to get back to a good place. I had another setback January/February 2024, and I ended up in an out-patient psychiatric program for four months. I don’t remember how long that took to recover from. I’d say at least ten months, if not longer.
My point is that this isn’t about getting over a mental illness and all is better for the rest of your life. Some people may deal with situational depression and be able to get past it after working through it. Others, like me, will live there life with this disease.
I just want anyone struggling with a mental illness to know that you can live a life and be happy. You will have ups and downs. You just have to take advantage of the good times, and when you’re not doing well, just know that it will pass, you just have to keep pushing.
I also hope there are others out there that will get a better picture of what it’s like to have a mental illness. If you’ve never had bipolar, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, or any other mental illness it’s nearly impossible to have true empathy for someone suffering with this disease. You can sympathize, but empathy is completely different. Maybe, by reading what it’s like to feel when one has these disorders, people can truly start to empathize more with those who are in the middle of mental illness episode.
Stigma is still something that’s out there. I feel like it got better for a bit but has gotten much worse again. I’m afraid to talk about my own mental health with anyone. This blog and book is a huge step and me putting myself out there for others to judge me. It will be worth it if I can help just one person.
Michele
