A Christmas Reflection

If you read my Christmas Snippets post, you’ll be aware that I suffered a psychotic episode in 2019. This was followed by a long period of anxiety and depression. In 2020, my mind couldn’t take any more. It shut down, and I left my family home. My boys were just four and seven. Things came to a head at the start of 2022, when I hit rock bottom. After I was discharged from hospital, I returned home. And with the love and support of my family, I found myself again.

2019

A year of scars

A year of grief

A year of wondering

If I’ll ever be me

A year of hurt

A world of pain

A time of struggle

No hope of gain

2020

A year of escape

A time to avoid

Thoughts of suffering

The endless void

A year of blankness

An empty home

No fear of reality

I’m all alone

2021

A year of confusion

I’m here then I’m not

The pain flared

Then I forgot

A year of fantasy

Don’t face the truth

Time to unsee

The heart-breaking proof

2022

It starts with an ending

An attempt, at least

Tormented by life

Desperate for release

Then a year of love

A year to recover

A regaining of hope

A goal to discover

2023

A year to dream

Of words on the page

Of realisation

It was just a stage

And stages pass

The good, the bad

Time to move on

To be thankful, to be glad

2024

A year of change

A new direction

Life goes on

A Christmas reflection

Tree decorated with my boys, aged 8 and 11, December 2024.