Can poetry help mental health? – Show Local

Mental health is a newsworthy topic these days. With depression and anxiety on the rise, the Buddhist prayer, “May you be well. May you be happy; May you be at peace” – this is certainly a lofty goal. How can we achieve that ambition when we are all weighed down by political instability, war, disease, death of loved ones and isolation?

During National Poetry Month, celebrated every April since its founding by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, K-12 teachers, librarians, publishers, and, of course, poets share how poetry is everything. We have emphasized how we can add value to people’s lives. Research, such as that carried out by the University of Plymouth and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is now showing that poetry can help people suffering from mental distress.

So what would that assistance look like?

Sometimes reading the right poem can help connect a person to a situation. For example, in “Miscarriage” written by Linda Wasmer Andrews, the reader’s pain may be eased by the words of the poet. This is the last stanza of the poem.

“I’m sorry if I couldn’t say anything that night.”

But I was still thinking in silence

Silence begins whether it comforts you

If you console me, you’ll lose out.

We were lying down because we lost you

For a while, I didn’t have words until then.

Our bodies are folded shut Our bodies are folded shut

Like a book that saves petals around hope

The book I didn’t open until morning

We have discovered that hope is withered and fragile, but intact. ”

Through the poet’s words, people may realize that they are not alone in their situation.

Since my sister’s husband passed away in October, she has comforted herself by reading and rereading portions of Ira Pascal Richardson’s poem “To My Loved Ones.”

“If I were to break up with you, I would

Love, to walk the quiet path,

Don’t be sad and don’t talk about me

Tears flow, but it’s as if you’re laughing and talking about me.

There I was next to you.I’ll come

I want to go, but I guess I have no choice but to find a way! ”

Reading poems that you can relate to can ease someone’s pain.

The second way poetry can help troubled people is by writing poetry. Wasmer Andrews writes in his article: [‘The Miscarriage’] Does it make you feel better? Indeed, that was true from the moment I put it to paper, long before I showed it to anyone or submitted it for publication. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I instinctively used poetry as a way to cope with my grief. ”

For me, writing “The Monster” about my anxiety attacks forced me to face the problem and think about how to deal with it. Here are some of my thoughts.

“Were you there when I was a kid?”

In the twisted hair

bitten nails,

And bleeding from the cuticle?

Was it hovering inside the hive?

it covered my skin

Like a symbol of sadness

After my husband died?

I will do what is natural.

you’re scarier than jason

Or the Headless Horseman.

you’re more scary

More so than the music from “Psycho” or “Jaws.”

If I knew where you hang out

finding guns during off-duty hours

And it will chase you down. ”

Writing “The Monster” didn’t make my anxiety go away, but the words shed some light on its origins and nature.

Courtney Heeren, a literacy coach and sixth grade teacher at Creekside Middle School in Woodstock, says, “Poetry sometimes gives students and the public permission to dive into topics they might not otherwise talk about.” ”. A great example of just such a topic is found in Sabrina Benaim’s well-read book, “Explaining My Depression to My Mother.” Below are some stanzas.

“Mom, my depression is a shapeshifter.

One day, it becomes as small as a firefly on a bear’s palm,

Next is the bear.

On those days, I pretend to be dead until the bear leaves me alone.

I call my bad days “dark days.”

Mom says, “Try lighting a candle.”

—

Mom still doesn’t understand.

mother! Can’t you see it, can’t I see it too?

Writing poetry helps people transfer their emotions into the concrete world.

Another way poetry can help people with mental health issues is to perform poems that may resonate with others at open mics or coffeehouses. In this activity, performers are asked to deal with their fears and share their experiences with willing listeners. Ms. Benaim has repeatedly explained her depression to her mother in colloquial terms (viewed more than 10 million times), but her mother is either not listening or clearly does not understand. However, Benaim’s online and in-house audiences respond enthusiastically to her performance. Through spoken word, participants are able to be themselves in a safe space where there is no judgment or ridicule.

Currently, The Other Side in Crystal Lake has a group of poets presenting their poems on the third Thursday of each month. They come together to connect, showcase their work, and spread the healing magic of poetry to their audiences.

I want to be honest here. Many poets such as Tennyson, Philip Larkin, Byron, T.S. Eliot, and Sylvia Plath have been labeled as depressed. Emily Dickinson is also said to have struggled with mental illness throughout her adult life. Dickinson used her own poetry as a tool for her healing, but unfortunately she lived in a time when there was no true understanding of her mental health. . Even today, reading, writing, listening to, and performing poetry without other interventions may not be the solution for people with chronic mental health issues.

However, during National Poetry Month, the world’s largest literary celebration, consider inviting poetry into your space. Doing so will not solve everything that ails the Earth or yourself. But maybe, just maybe, reading Langston Hughes’ Dreams while wrapped in a blanket can be comforting. And perhaps for a while, that word, that repetition, that rhyme, will make you happy, peaceful, and energized.

• Jan Bosman of Woodstock taught English and business for 32 years, the last 22 at Johnsburg High School. She is also an essayist and poet and a member of the McHenry County Villainous Poets Society and the Wisconsin Poets Fellowship.