The Book of Ours: Poetry to Share About Anxiety and Depression and Hope

Anxiety and Depression share a constant companion, Isolation. In recent years, the stigma attached to mental health began shedding like scales from people's eyes. Yet there is not a sense of hopeful connection for those living with these afflictions. This book is not designed to be a medical diagnosis or a treatment plan. Instead, this book was written with the intent of connecting; people, hearts, voices and minds. The poems are interspaced with blank lines for the reader to annotate and create for themselves. Anxiety and Depression do not define the people they afflict. Instead, people are realizing that they can stand up and join hands with others. If this book offers nothing more than a sense of identification between the author and the reader, then it will be a success. Sometimes, in the darkness, another small voice that says, "I am here, too," can make all the difference. We can have hope. Hope is ours.