Hidden Lives: Poetry from Invisibility Have you developed a hidden disability? Are you finding it hard to express how you feel or the pain you are in? Do you wish there was a book you could give family members or friends that would help them understand what your going through? Do you want to support awareness for hidden disabilities? This poetry collection is designed with you in mind. It was written to help those with hidden disabilities like fibromyalgia and ME feel less alone. It is often hard to describe the levels of exhaustion a chronic illness or disability can cause, it can be hard to find the right words to explain chronic pain. I wrote this book to alleviate the burden of not being able to express these things.The poems in this collection express the complex emotions of those who wish to throw their wheelchairs away, feel pinned to their beds by exhaustion, and are conflicted by the anxiety of someone noticing that they are ill whilst needing some recognition or support. The collection explores mental health disabilities such as depression or generalised anxiety. The impact of an invisible condition.Where do you turn to when you develop a hidden disability? When your isolated by a pre-existing one, or two, or three? Are you always going to be hidden? Money from copies purchased goes to Hidden Lives, a support group in Keyham who offer a safe space to meet other individuals with hidden illnesses. They are a community support group who will hopefully soon receive their charity status so that they can become a wider reaching form of support for the community. I am very proud to be supporting them through this project.This collection is very personal to me. I am a fibromyalgia sufferer and i wanted to use this collection to reach out to those who are feeling either alone or lost in the realities of their conditions. |
