How to Control the Impact of Stigma

The terror of being
Mentally Ill
Runs through Our Blood
As a little Girl
I was terrified
As an Adult Woman
I am terrified
We say that We Care
At times We offer Empathy
Sympathy
Pity
But Without
A Place in the Community
Without a Sense of Worth
Without Employment
Life becomes One Long Passage
Of Grief
When the Drugs
That they
Give You
Give You Cancer
And because of Your Concern
You are labelled
A Drama Queen
I say I have 
Every Right
And for Those that
Come After Me
I make a Plea
That in future
We have Work Houses
Instead of merely
Punishing the Victim
With Medication
It is hard to See
That it is Anything But
I am Grateful
That I have Lived
But the terror
And Isolation
Has Overwhelmed me
And I'm not the Only One
These Days
I just Sit
And Contemplate
My Navel
Medication
Has Introduced
A Paralysis
Of the Mind
I am Overwhelmed
By Inertia
And Anxiety
Because of the Hostility I have Experienced