Description

By Sean McDermott

ISBN: 978-1-84991-818-3
Published: 2012
Pages: 42
Key Themes: Mental Health, Poetry, Recovery

About the Author

From an early age I always found it hard to accept that there was not more to life than the average daily grind. By the age of 15 however I started hanging around with friends and looking up to rock stars as role models. They smoked a lot of marijuana so we did too and it seemed OK, but around the same time I lost interest in school, partly because I wanted to learn things for myself rather than just copy from text books but partly because I did not want to go. The only subject that ever really held my interest was Sociology.

In 1990 things spiralled out of control. I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and spent the next few years experiencing the many facets of the mental health system. The environment was often unsuitable for recovery and some of the staff was unhelpful. Some of them were very helpful though and as time went on I realised that people in positions of authority werent all bad.

I didnt find working life easy when I tried to get into it as people were often unkind to me but during one of my stays in hospital I picked up my guitar and rediscovered my creativity. I started writing poems and songs and this is something I have continued ever since. During this process I have learned much about myself, about people in general and the nature of the world we live in.

Ironically, if I had not become ill I am not sure if this would have happened, so in a way things have come full circle and I have realised that its OK to be part of society and still retain a level of individuality. I am now trying to get voluntary work and have started giving talks and readings about my experiences. I hope you will gain something from this.