Young poet turns children’s and parents' mental health stories into powerful poetry
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A young Suffolk poet has transformed the emotional thoughts and experiences of children and parents around mental health into a moving poem.
Released as part of Children’s Mental Health Week, which is taking place from February 3 – 9, the emotional poem captures a range of real-life mental health experiences shared by children, young people, parents and carers.
The poem was created by 23-year-old Lucy who has experienced mental health services firsthand at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).
It was inspired by feedback gathered at an event held in Great Yarmouth where attendees were asked: “What should people know about mental health?”
Some of the responses included heart-felt statements such as: “It is okay to be sad, just tell an adult,” “it’s hard to understand,” and “the more we talk, the more awareness there is”.
Lucy, from Leiston in East Suffolk, said: “I thought of the idea of using feedback to write a poem as I thought it would be a different way to engage people in discussions about mental health. It was also nice to be the 'voice' of other people in spreading a message in which I hope they will be proud to be a part of.”
The psychology student also shared how writing poetry has helped her to process her own emotions. “I started using my writing to improve my mental health. No topic was off limits, which allowed me to process my thoughts and grow through difficult experiences. I doubt I'd be as strong as I am now without having my poetry to use as a tool.”
She now hopes to inspire others as she pursues a career in the mental health field, just as her English teacher inspired her at school.
It is now available to read in full online on the NSFT young people’s participation website, here: https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/young-peoples-participation/
In the coming weeks, the webpage will be updated with more creative contributions from young service users and their parents and carers, including artwork, poems, and personal experiences related to mental health.
Andrea Bland, people participation co-ordinator for Norfolk and Waveney children, families and young people’s services at NSFT, said: “I’m very proud to be involved in this project; it’s a great example of coproduction and the community coming together to support each other. The theme for Children’s Mental Health Week this year is ‘Know Yourself Grow Yourself’, we created this poem in the hope young people and parents/carers will feel less alone after reading it and to highlight things can get better.”
Anthony Deery, chief nurse at NSFT, said: “This is an example of why people participation is so important. By positively working together we can help to shape and deliver outstanding services and improve wider understanding of mental health.”
To find out more about young people’s participation, and how you can get involved, please visit: https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/young-peoples-participation/