بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
I don’t want to be a part of the stats anymore,
A member of the unlucky ‘1 in four’,
They all think If I don’t want to, I don’t need to be,
They just don’t understand mental illness you see.
‘Cheer up, snap out of it, be more positive’ they say,
As though I could just wish my depression away,
Or ‘u need to see a Mawlana and get checked out’
Yes, black magic’s probably the reason for all that self doubt!?
The best one though is ‘you need to pray more’,
Cause mental illness is Allah’s punishment for sinners don’t you know??
Ask yourself this though- If it was so easy, would I choose to suffer?
And put myself through having meds, whose side effects make me feel rougher?
And would you really say all these things to someone physically ill?
Or would you encourage them to rest and take a pill?
It’s like saying someone that has cancer it’s because of a fault of their own,
And they should just snap out of it without any signs of distress being shown!
We need to be kind with our words and rid society of the stigma and shame,
And realise that sufferers themselves are not to blame!
So next time you speak to someone suffering from depression think about what you say,
You never know what kind of impact you can make on their day!
This poem was written to create awareness for mental health illnesses.
Anonymous.