World Mental Health Day 2016 Poem by Christopher Tye

World Mental Health Day 2016

It's time to end prejudice and discrimination,
We didn't choose to be mentally ill,
It chooses us by birth or by life's tragedy's.

We are not standard or substandard,
We can be extraordinary and great,
In the bad times we need help and assistance,
Not empty words and false sympathy.

Do you think those of born with mental conditions,
Are happy having things that can't be cured or treated,
Autism and Asperger's Syndrome limits us socially,
But we can see the world with clarity lost on others.

People trivialising depression as merely a chemical imbalance,
Not understanding how deeply it impacts our daily life,
Not seeing how deep the rivers of sorrow run eroding our souls,
To reach a point where suicide and death is the only hope for redemption.

Do you think we wanted to develop PTSD,
Do you think we wanted to see the horrors we've seen,
Do you think our traumas and injuries were wanted,
Do you think we suffer our nightmares willingly.

Anorexia Nervosa just something suffered by teenagers under pressure,
Think again as our minds drive us in a quest for over-perfection,
Imagine what it's like for us as acid burns away at our stomachs and throats,
Living and working on empty as our bodies slowly shut down.

Do you think anxiety is just a bit of nerves,
Think again as it can be crippling to life,
Living in isolation as we can't face the world,
Panicking and worrying about social engagement.

Self-Harming is something far deeper than the cuts,
As we try to wash away our pain in rivers of blood,
Beating and cutting ourselves trying to stay afloat in a sea of sorrow,
Each scar a battle wound from our fight for our place in humanity.

Did the greatest artists and writers became great in-spite or because of mental problems,
We are just as human as everybody else so don't try classify us as anything else,
If you're lucky you'll live life without any mental health problems,
But one in four people a year isn't really good odd's is it.

By Christopher Tye