After writing my poem ‘An Open Letter‘ I have felt inspired from having thought about my anxiety as a separate entity. I feel that personifying it made me understand it, and myself, better and that writing directly to a mental illness is a creative technique as well as an emotional outlet for dealing with it.
This has led me to wonder whether other people would find this technique helpful or whether they do (or already have done) something similar.
I’m thinking of using this blog to reach out to people who have mental health issues whether it be:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Schizophrenia
- Bipolar
- Eating disorder (anorexia/bulimia)
- Personality disorder
Of course, there are many more I haven’t mentioned, but these are the main ones that come to mind.
What I would like to do would be to suggest that anyone who has a mental disorder, or any issue at all that they struggle with and try to manage, tries to write something directly to their problem/disorder/illness.
This could take the form of:
- A letter
- A poem
- A short essay/blog post
- A script-like conversation (between the illness and the affected person)
- A short story/flash fiction (involving both as characters)
Again, there are more than this list and it’s down to whatever form appeals the most or feels comfortable.
The aim is to address our issues directly and personify them in a way that opens ourselves up to being honest about how we feel and what struggles we face, by sharing our voice with the problems themselves.
What I want to know is, how many people would be interested in contributing to this project?
I want to gauge interest, so I would encourage you to like/comment on this post and let me know what you think! If I get enough interest then I’ll go about setting something up so that people can submit their letters/poems etc. and hopefully we will end up with a collection of strong,honest, moving pieces that reflect the struggles of having a mental illness.
I look forward to hearing what people think!
Jade
Jade Moore 
Hi.
In my opinion, this is an amazing idea! It’s more like behaving as an adult, sitting face to face with your mental illness, talking with it and solving issues with maturity and understanding.
I’m going to refer this idea to whoever needs it. And I’ll encourage you to go ahead with the plan that you’ve for this idea. This is your baby, let it bloom! Take care and keep blogging. 🙂
Regards,
AS
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Thank you for this feedback on my idea. It’s been on my mind since I wrote my poem and I just want to help other people but also give them the chance to help themselves. I find writing, especially about personal issues, can be hard and emotional but ultimately rewarding.
If I get enough interest and people willing to write and contribute pieces to this project then I’ll definitely go ahead and try to make it something worthwhile for people to get involved with no matter what personal struggles they face.
Thank you again, you keep up your blogging too!
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The way I see it, writing helps to organize thoughts. Instead, every form of art is helpful! Many of the artistic geniuses have been through what psychiatrists call mental diseases.
Thus, what you’re doing is a step in the right direction. If there’s anything that I can do to help you with your plans related to you idea, let me know. I’ll gladly assist you on this project. 🙂
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If you have anything you’d like to contribute that would be great. Also if you can try and reach people who you think would like to be involved that would be amazing! What I’m thinking is if enough people are interested then I’ll set up another blog purely for this along with an email address for people to send contributions to which I can then post on the blog.
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Sure. I’ll try to attract as many people as I can towards your project. 🙂
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Thank you, the more people involved, the better it will be!
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I love the idea! It gives us a chance to tell our anxiety, etc. what we think of it and to be able to remind it that we are stronger than it! I’m definitely going to reblog this post!
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I really appreciate you reblogging this. The more people I can get involved the better! Thank you.
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No problem! I love the idea. Can’t wait to work on it. 🙂
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I’ll be updating the blog for this in a bit and doing a welcome post but it would be great to get people following it initially! Can’t wait to see people’s responses.
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So excited to write my letter to anxiety!
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I’m so pleased you’re excited to do it! hope you find it rewarding. I’ve just done my first post on the new blog for this project, so make sure you give it a follow so you know how to send me your letter once you’ve written it 🙂
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Reblogged this on Getting Through Anxiety and commented:
Jade Moore speaks about her idea to personify mental health issues in order to confront it. Please visit her blog!
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This is a great idea! I will get to writing a poem about my anxiety, and let you know once I am done :).
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Thank you! I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
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☺️
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Make sure to follow the blog so you know how to submit your piece when you’ve written it! The blog looks a bit bare at the moment but there is an about page and how to contribute page 🙂
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I followed you yesterday 😄. Look forward to reading your posts!
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Have you followed the blog specifically for this project? I only set it up this morning but if you haven’t then here’s the URL: letterstothemindblog.wordpress.com
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Oh! Doy to me! lol I’ll head over and follow that part of the blog :). Thanks!
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Hope it works okay!
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How do I add my poem to his page?
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Email me your poem to the address on the ‘how to contribute’ page along with the other information and I will make a post with your poem. 🙂 let me know if you have any other questions.
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Great thanks!
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Looking forward to reading it!
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Just so you all know, I have set up a blog for this project, you can follow it at: letterstothemindblog.wordpress.com and there you will find information on how to submit pieces!
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Great piece! I love that you can personify the emotion by giving it a new home on paper. It takes away the power of the emotion. It’s also therapeutic to read over these thoughts at a later date, reflecting back on how you were able to handle the situation. ✌🏼️
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Exactly, I think of it as a technique for coping but also something that can be rewarding through the act of creating something positive out of something that brings negativity.
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Nice idea! Definitely adding this to my to do list over the weekend.
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Thank you! I look forward to reading your contribution.
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I think that’s a great idea. I’ll write something and then check back to see what’s happened with the development of that kind of blog. I think a venue for mental health is great!
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Hi there! I’m pleased you’re keen to contribute. I have been working hard to set this project up and have created a blog that is up and running. Visit: letterstothemindblog.wordpress.com
You will find a page all about how to contribute!
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