TRIGGER WARNING!
This website contains poetry and true stories about trauma, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, self-harming, depression and other significant mental health issues, as well as personal stories of emotional neglect and physical and sexual abuse, which some people might find disturbing.
Poetry for Mental Health
Supporting people with mental health challenges by motivating and inspiring them to write poetry.
FUNDRAISING
PLEASE help support Poetry for Mental Health as it continues promoting, publishing and showcasing poetry for mental health into 2026. Thank you so much ... together we can keep supporting people around the world through words and poetry!
"Poetry for Mental Health has supported thousands of people around the world through words and poetry!"
"Formed at the outbreak of COVID by helping people cope mentally by inspiring them to write poetry; four years, six books, hundreds of poets, and thousands of pieces of poetry later, we are still inspiring people to write poetry for positive mental health! With around 1400 visitors now each and every month, Poetry for Mental Health is now probably the largest and most visited website for poetry and mental health on the net!"
ROBIN BARRATT
Founder POETRY FOR MENTAL HEALTH
"No matter what your age, background and experience, culture or identity; whether an established writer with many published titles to your credit, or an aspiring poet who has never written a word of poetry in your life, our philosophy here is to embrace, welcome and support everyone, everywhere suffering from mental health challenges, and help you cope through words and poetry ... Get writing!"
This Weekend's Featured Poetry
14th June, 2025
I CAN’T BELIEVE I HAD YOU
By Lila Aronoff
I hardly remember anything but a bittersweet ache searing in my sternum, the spring three years ago I abjured mind and body, becoming the quiet tremor before tears. Exhausted, a satchel of bones that she can’t even situate right, wrinkled sheets over only her right side because the strength of extending an arm above the plane of her torso too much. Fearing the space between the pillow trim and headboard, a duvet where your head might fall in, her cheeks beet red with the heat of blood pooling in them, Adam's apple straining against the kink in her neck that can’t drag up. Muscles idle, waiting for an influx of calcium or sodium that never comes, relying on anger to wrench her body to motion.
a soft wind and the scent of damp earth rustles the white voile. It rained this morning,
heavy-lidded mahogany eyes of morning,
and the twinkling opening of Emmit Fenn’s “I Can’t Believe I Had You”
fills me with the most peculiar feeling, almost like
retrospective fondness for life
as if I can imagine it resonating After.
I never think about what’s happening as tragic, but this morning
you got to me a little
but beating an animal to silence is only sad if its
a precedent applied to other people
true atonement comes at a cost
cold-heat of hunger and protein leaking in my feet
you were just doing your job and I ascribe
intention to everything
three in the morning and I sense my neck hitch back, everything melding
heavy and awkward on the mattress
an angel thread his hands beneath me as if “of course you couldn’t”
when the body has no shame but the mind wants it
collecting in his arms a kile* split wide open,
fingers spread against raw skin where it just can’t suture
unflinching, smiling down with sable eyes bright, warm, and kind
his sentience stark against this unfeeling thing,
for seven months numbing it out
for three years swallowing it down
suddenly trying
not to cry
*kile - Hebrew word meaning vessel or physical body
ABOUT LILA:
Lila is a nursing student at Emory University, a career path inspired by the compassion and healing care of doctors and nurses to which she owes her life. 'I Can't Believe I Had You' is a meditation on her battle with anorexia.
15th June, 2025
UNTITLED
By Rhiannon Watkins
Plastic bandage wrappers
Fall
Like
Spring flower petals.
Red drops well up on
My
Skin.
The tears flow less than the
Dark
Stream
That pools
On
The wooden floor
Under
Bare
Feet.
ABOUT THE POEM: "I struggle with Excoriation Disorder, in which I obsessively/compulsively pick at my own skin. It became especially severe during the last couple of years when I was really struggling with depression and anxiety. I want to shed light on Excoriation Disorder (also called Dermatillomania) with the hope that it may offer solace to others like me, so they feel less alone."
More Featured Poetry ...
On the themes of mental health, from poets around the world.
Poetry by: Rhiannon Watkins, Lila Aronoff, Sophie Long, Flow, Joyeeta NC, Ron Riekki, Mark Katrinak, Anna C. Benyo, Caligo Cai Amber, Renu Mathew, Amy A, Heidi Hildeman, Dee Redgrave, Isabelle P. Byrne, Penelope Bravo, Amy Lee, Heeya, V. Cambray, Tamizh Ponni VP, Ashleigh Lewis, Diana Spore, K. Hayden, Howa Ramadan, Pip McDonald, Celeste Bowling, Amber Drake, Christopher Johnson, Joanne Beechey,Todd Matson, Michael H. Brownstein, Douglas Gladis, Christina WP, Carrie Farrar, Andrew Farrow, Alexis W. H. Chung, John Victor, MZH, Shyla Register, Kelly Maida, Alex Vorhies, Kristian Ford, John Moody, Emmi-Heléna Daals, Acton Bell, Lynette Lim, Iris Taylor, Emily Astey, R. Schilke, Ruth Zwald, Maryellen Polikoff, Norma Zimmermann, Caroline Allen, Riley M. Frank, John Tunaley, Ashe, Mike Whiting, Gary Shulman, Abby Alexander, Ella Grimes, Sara Ponferrada Reed, Wynn Vu,
Bella Hope Smith, Milena Dimitrova, Nivedita Karthik, Annette Towler, Lana, Tara Reyes, Donna McCabe, Tony Cooney, Peter W. Morris, Mark Andrew Heathcote, Paul Parker, Angus Shoor Caan, Duane Anderson, Shahida, Joan McNerney, C.W. Blackburn, David T. Culkin, John F. Zurn, Christine Botros, Francis H. Powell, Simon Drake, Dionne Risley, Roo Newsome, Sherri Levine, Kathleen Chamberlin, Tandra Mishra, Caroline Berry, Angela Masciale, Chris Stokes, Reno Mcgreggor Connelly, Vatsala Radhakeesoon, Martin Embree, Dan Healy, Tadgh Quill-Manley, Reuben Scott, Paulette Hampton, Dr. Sabrina Rubin, Donna Crossno, Sasha Irwin, Bella Hope Smith, Lindsay Walter, Dale "Coyote" Johnson, Jennifer L. Alukonis, Alexander A. Henning, Emma Welch, Sophie Squires, Chris McClelland, Sasha Irwin, Faiqa Ali Chughtai, Hari Berrow, Annie Walsh, Harriet Coppard,
Andrea Mitchell, Victoria Fitzgerald, Mohammed Ali, Rebecca L. Bishop, Chad Boucher, Jason Kirk Bartley, Zack Benz, Jordan Claeys, Nicole Crossno, Valentina Fulginiti, Ethan Boyd, Heidi Hildeman, Oscar Lozano, Anthony Ward, Addie Suter, Dionne Risley, David M. White, PhD, Melissa W. Sorgi, Kyra Merryman, Hilary Canto,Amelia May Hart, Reese, Anneli Knight, Keila Cruz, Bhagvati Patel, Cynthia Foss, Amber Roeder, April Bulmer, Chelsea Garcia, Trish Lundy, Divya Paliwal, Jeanette Stephenson, Luke Preston, Autumn Johnson, Amy Harris, Braxsen Sindelar, Spruce Craft, Tim Boardman, Prudence Massaria, Binod Dawadi, James Aitchison, Natalie Hussey, Kiran Harrar, Joan Kantor, Jamie Gannon, Susannah Chatfield, Emma Follett, Pam Ski, Garima Sachdev Kapoor, Nigel Pinhorn, Boakesey, Mike Gosalia, Rabindra Anselm Mariathasan, and Amanda Hancock.
"Why is poetry so very good for people with mental health challenges? Because it helps them see the world in their own way, and in a way that makes sense to them ..."
Robin Barratt
Books
Click on the covers for further details of all our titles. With thousands of contributions from hundreds of writers and poets around the world, our anthologies are probably some of the largest collections on mental health ever published. Please buy a copy -
ALL
profits from the sales of our titles go towards promoting and publishing poetry for positive mental health.
NOTE: All our books are now available as PDF e-Books! Just £3.99 (GBP) / $5.99 (USD). Click on the button below, and click through to the book you would like as a pdf.
Available shortly ...
Our next title will be: ANXIETY & DEPRESSION - A collection of interviews, personal stories, poetry and short prose from around the world on the themes of anxiety & depression.
Personal Journeys
In their own words, poets and writers write about their own personal journey with mental health.
Interviews
Poetry for Mental Health chats to writers and poets about their journey with mental health.
NEW - Articles
Articles about poetry and positive mental health. MORE ONLINE SHORTLY.
Featured Poets
Featuring over 65 poets around the world, with up to six pieces of their work, and a little about the author and the stories behind their work.
Other ...
Directory of Support Services
Charities, groups and organisations worldwide offering mental health help and support to people in crisis.
Mental Health First Aid
Identifying warning signs of common mental health crisis, and how to guide a person towards safety and appropriate help. Read more ...
"People can benefit from writing poetry because it can take the images and the talk in your head and transfer it to paper. It’s like getting the words out
of your head so that they don’t linger there."
Nadine Dunseith
Newletter
Be kept updated with our news and calls for submissions.
“No matter how bad something may seem at that moment in time when you feel all is lost, it can get better if you can only give it more time."
Lynda Tavakoli
NOTE ON CONTRIBUTIONS: We publish mental health poetry from around the world, and for a number contributors to this website, English is not their first language. Unlike some other platforms, we don't heavily edit a poet's own work (if we did, it would then not be their own work!), so please focus on a poet's messages and meanings, and not necessarily on any grammatical mistakes or translated imperfections that may arise within their contribution.