“However you do it, make a conversation about mental health”

Time to Change

So today is Time to Talk Day – and recently I have been really struggling with my anxiety so I wrote a poem:

Anxiety Sucks

Anxiety to some is just a word
A collection of syllables sometimes heard
To some of us, it is pain and suffering
A darkness and ache that becomes all encompassing

You don’t look like you have anxiety, I hear time and again.
Well, please tell me what you think I should look like then?
I have built a facade, a personality so happy
Is it so hard to believe at times I feel totally beyond crappy?

Sometimes there’s a buildup, of which you are aware.
Other times it strikes you down out of absolutely nowhere.
Feeling every negative emotion to the very extreme
Trapped inside your own head, wanting to scream.

But at the same time, you’re exhausted and completely numb.
You try and stay strong, but you finally succumb.
You believe you are useless, a complete waste of space.
You can no longer cope, tears stream down your face.

You want to give up, you want to give in.
If it was completely all over, would that be such a sin?
Make it all stop, please, it is too much to bear.
My mind is just full of too many cares.

Why am I this way? I wonder again and again.
Even though I’m like this, will you still be my friend?
My thoughts and my feelings are so detached
An outpouring of hatred to myself is dispatched

Would they still like me if they knew the black thoughts in my head?
That leave me zombified and like the walking dead.
These dark emotions that leave me in no man’s land
Would they be able to deal? Could, they truly understand?

Cheer up some say, you could have it worse
This doesn’t help matters, it feels like a curse
You cannot think positive when you’re lost in your head
The world’s a scary place full of dread

Coping mechanisms used to get me back on an even keel.
To prevent my mind from escalating these things that I feel.
Talking with friends and a hot cup of tea
Not trying to fix it, just being there for me

We all fight battles in our own personal abyss
The hardest ones in our heads that are hard to dismiss
One bit of advice, I ask you to heed.
Please, always be kind, you never know who is in need.

Thank you ❤️

Please keep talking, and please know you are not alone.

What goes into your conversation about mental health? What are your key ingredients? ❤️ xxx