Today is World Mental Health Day. Writing can be a great way to support mental well-being (this is something I did myself when I began writing). It can also be a wonderful way to connect with other writers and readers.

Here are some inspiring, empowering pieces from amazing writers who have been part of some of my groups. I hope you enjoy.

Mental Health by L.B.

Whenever I speak to you about mental health, you recoil, as if the very words were a disease.

You visibly shrink back, fear and disdain contorting your face before your blank composure returns.

I want to open up to you, wade through the sludge, drag myself out of this fog, so that you can really see me.

You once called me your light, the brightest of lights; but you only see one part of me.

You can’t bear to look upon the darkness, for fear your shadows will revolt and march against your own light. You can’t bear to look at those parts of me that are drowning in darkness so deep, I fear they can never be reached.

I don’t need you to fix me.

I just need you to hold out your hand now and then. Not to pull me out, just to remind me you’re there while I tread these waters. Until I learn how to swim.

Your face is rigid, your hands clasped in your lap.

I too shrink back and place the covers back over the darkness.

The light dims.

By The Candlelight by Gemma Abbot

The rescue fantasies of a lonely soul,

Trying her best to be, ‘as good as gold’.

Yet, invisible, insignificant, of no role,

She unburdened and withdrew from the world.

Meek and anxiously submissive.

Her only escape from the brutal dismissive,

Was to release her thoughts with jet-black ink,

By the candlelight glow, in melodic sync.

Suffocated by the deep-rooted angst,

Taking hold of her life plans.

Like shattered glass, once swept aside,

The pages flooded, like an urgent tide.

A way to open the stubborn seal,

By allowing the words to flow and heal.

Viewing the narrative empirically,

Emoting and processing, verbally, lyrically.

Mindfully focused, discovering light,

Opportunities displayed with new insight.

The internal mechanics now allowed to repair,

Gradually free her from the chains of despair.

A powerful remedy, self-administered,

Where her innermost thoughts are duly considered.

A connective access to the divine,

A personal, spiritual ethereal line.

Imprisoned by Caroline Leck

Sinking, I have been feeling low again.
And overwhelmed,
And disorganised,
And that I cannot do this.
I hate it.
I feel so lost and confused.
What to do,
Everything screams for attention.
I panic, just do anything.
Start something,
But no endings.
I escape into anything but this unsurmountable task.
Displacing for control of the black doom of failure.
Chaos mounts up yet again,
Surrounding me like the bars of a cage.
My home, my belongings, are my jailors.
Life sucked into racing heart and overwhelm.

This should not be so hard,

But right now, I see little hope of parole.

And judging faces all around.

The shame of this crime and me — the harshest judge of all.

Reach Out by Craig

Screaming used to echo in my head,

Continuous, yet it wasn’t my voice.

Repeated, like a stuck record.

Everyone else, unaware of the noise.

Aggressive, argumentative, abrupt.

Making me think I was going insane.

Intimidating, irritating, insidious.

Never going away.

Hovering, getting louder,

Louder, taking over.

Silence wasn’t really a thing,

I couldn’t get any respite.

Low mood, depression, despair.

Eventually, I knew it would get me.

Now I had to stop it,

I had to find me again.

Confidence in tatters but still I reached out,

Got help and now I feel me again.

Lighthouse by L.B.

The storm had claimed me long before we met
Submerged again in unrelenting waves
With no purpose, or sense of East or West
I ceased my struggles, I almost gave in.
Then you appeared, a surprising light
From across the gloom of murky waters
A beacon in the night, a flash of hope
Though you wavered in the clouds, light burned through.
I cannot tell you what it meant to me
Plucked up from those cold, unforgiving depths
Laid onto damp sand and solid land; safe
Steadied by your embrace, warmed by your heart.
My soul uttered a sigh of sweet relief
Finding its home at long last by your side
Knowing real peace for the very first time
A lifetime of gratitude owed to you.
The soul of my friend, the friend of my soul
May your light never fade into darkness
And may you always find me in the light
Should darkness return to claim me again.