A Rare, Restorative Take on Mental Health For Challenging Times Poetry has way of connecting directly to the heart, and that's especially true with this poetry book about mental health and mental illness. It's too simplistic to label this as depression poetry or anxiety poetry--this is poetry about what it means to be a human being struggling and coping with everyday mental health issues. This is self love poetry. This is poetry for people who don't like poetry or have never even read it before. Here's an example of the poetry you'll find: You Can't Write Poetry About Depression You can’t write poetry about depression You have to feel it It has to seep out of your bones It has to leak out of your eyes The poetry is in the becoming the shifting feeling the falling breath the terror of monotony the naked desperation the losing of hope and the long wondering if it will ever return You can’t write poetry about depression You have to experience it You have to know it like a brother And you have to hate it so much that you use it you terrorize it for what it d`id to you Until you see the sudden strength hidden within the darkness Until you become the darkness and in so doing you realize you’ve always had the light Before he became a social worker, a writer/poet, and a mental health advocate tweeting for 31,000 followers, and before he started writing the popular weekly email newsletter, The Mental Health Update, Jordan Brown was terrified and lost. Forced to respond to a parent's mental health crisis right after graduating from college, Jordan made decisions he never thought he would have to make. This experience of feeling completely unprepared to deal with mental health issues led him, after giving back to others in the Peace Corps in Guatemala and in AmeriCorps in Montana, to seek out and take the 12-week Family-to-Family course with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). A year later, he was teaching the Family-to-Family course and starting a family support group in Helena, Montana to help others deal with their own mental health crises. But everything changed in 2012. A year before finding mental health resources and a supportive community with NAMI in 2013, a 24-year-old Jordan was rushed into sudden open-heart surgery to repair a failing aortic valve. Surprisingly, the physical recovery from this near-death experience was nothing compared to the emotional recovery that wreaked havoc on his life by worsening anxiety and OCD symptoms that began in childhood. Mental illness caused months of insomnia and progressed to severe depression and worsening suicidal thoughts. It is out of these experiences that In Search of Happiness was born. Three years in the making, this mental health poetry book carries the reader along a four-part journey through overcoming anxiety and relieving societal pressure, to receiving healing and, ultimately, finding meaning. With special emphasis on anxiety and depression, In Search of Happiness examines the vast spectrum from mental illness to mental health. At its core, the book of poems addresses the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual reality that is the everyday mental health experience. It's not only a book about depression poetry or anxiety poetry. It's life-affirming poetry that helps others create their own meaning. And it's not just one person's story as much as it is a collective mental-health story emerging from one person's experience. In Search of Happiness is a vulnerable collection of poetry and short essays that encourages the reader to see mental health in a new, more hopeful light. This is not the doom-and-gloom narrative that scares society and spreads stigma. This poetry-and-prose collection increases mental health awareness by highlighting the entire mental health spectrum on which we all exist.

A Return to Happiness is a poetry collection exploring the personal, raw, real emotions of losing yourself and finding the strength to heal. Exploring grief, depression, anxiety, mental health, loss, love, reflection, and healing, it takes you on an inward journey of self-discovery and growth. It encourages you to feel deeply and be vulnerable, reminding you to be kind to yourself first. As you read this book, I hope you will open your heart and come back to yourself again.

A remarkable Pocket Poets anthology of poems from around the world and across the centuries about illness and healing, both physical and spiritual. From ancient Greece and Rome up to the present moment, poets have responded with sensitivity and insight to the troubles of the human body and mind. Poems of Healing gathers a treasury of such poems, tracing the many possible journeys of physical and spiritual illness, injury, and recovery, from John Donne’s “Hymne to God My God, In My Sicknesse” and Emily Dickinson’s “The Soul has Bandaged moments” to Eavan Boland’s “Anorexic,” from W.H. Auden’s “Miss Gee” to Lucille Clifton’s “Cancer,” and from D.H. Lawrence’s “The Ship of Death” to Rafael Campo’s “Antidote” and Seamus Heaney’s “Miracle.” Here are poems from around the world, by Sappho, Milton, Baudelaire, Longfellow, Cavafy, and Omar Khayyam; by Stevens, Lowell, and Plath; by Zbigniew Herbert, Louise Bogan, Yehuda Amichai, Mark Strand, and Natalia Toledo. Messages of hope in the midst of pain—in such moving poems as Adam Zagajewski’s “Try to Praise the Mutilated World,” George Herbert’s “The Flower,” Wisława Szymborska’s “The End and the Beginning,” Gwendolyn Brooks’ “when you have forgotten Sunday: the love story” and Stevie Smith’s “Away, Melancholy”—make this the perfect gift to accompany anyone on a journey of healing. Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.

This book of poems represents a young woman's journey to enlightenment through self-love, compassion and spirituality. After an epiphany in which she recognized how detrimental people-pleasing had been to her life, she embarked on a quest to discover who she was and returned with so much more. Realizing she wanted to heal others, she shares her message of love, loss, and remembering that through darkness, comes light and that the darkness is what is needed to evolve.

After losing my mother at the age of 11, I always felt as though a piece of me was missing. I'd constantly experience dysfunctional relationships, not realizing that my present problems could be a reflection of my childhood wounds. It wasn't until I was triggered to stop running from my past that I sought to heal within. That is when Euphoria came to life.Euphoria is a poetic pursuit of healing and happiness; a daily recovery to wholeness and a deep revealing of self-love. Join me as I express my journey of healing and happiness through prophetic poetry, short stories, and spontaneous songs. Just like the poetic words that you will find in this book, I invite you to soak in the garden of healing and happiness until your soul says, "It is done."

Let's begin on a transformative journey with Pimptronot, the visionary underground multimedia artist whose creativity knows no bounds. With a rich tapestry of accomplishments including over 300 published songs, 20,000 mesmerizing digital paintings, and over 5 million NFT sales under his belt, Pimptronot is a true luminary in the world of art and music. Renowned for his innovative work and represented by the prestigious Pace Gallery in New York City, Pimptronot also channels his artistic vision through his urban fashion line, Pimptrowear.com. After two decades on the road as a professional DJ, Pimptronot takes a poignant detour to explore the depths of mental wellness through his art and poetry. Pimptronot, armed with a degree in art therapy, delves into the vast landscape of mental illness by shedding light on the top 193 classified mental issues in the world. Through his evocative artwork and empowering poems, Pimptronot offers a positive perspective on these challenging topics, aiming to inspire healing and understanding in his readers. These short yet profound poems transcend age barriers, offering solace and insight to readers from 8 to 90 years old. Let Pimptronot's artistic expression guide you on a path of empathy and enlightenment, as you navigate the complexities of mental health with compassion and hope. This book is a beacon of light in the darkness, inviting readers to embrace a journey towards mental wellness and resilience.

"Lost in Life's Ocean" is a collection of poems detailing my battles with depression and the turbulence it caused as I searched for my purpose in life.Featuring poems nearly all written during my early twenties, this book represents my internal struggle on the journey to find self-worth, acceptance and so much more.From troubled early chapters to the thrills of newfound confidence, all the way back to the pain and desperation of life's harsh reality checks - "Lost in Life's Ocean" is the beginning of my story - a brutal quest to defeat my demons.