Sarah Battison from Walsall releases a book of her life experiences in poetry and hopes that they will provide inspiration to others.

A local woman who was a prolific offender between the ages of 15 and 16 shows that people can change and grow.

Sarah hopes that with the release of her book there will be more understanding around mental health and many other problems faced in today’s world. Sarah has had many negative experiences and has struggled with depression & anxiety most of her life. Sarah’s book ‘The Journey to Happiness’ is her life story, written chronologically in poetry format. She talks of issues she’s faced, how you can help yourself or your family members who may be suffering in the same way. She also talks of the effects these experiences have had on her and her mental health.

Sarah is now 31 years old and has been working hard to give herself and her children a better life and hopes that her book will provide some insight into how easy it can be for youngsters to take the wrong path. She also hopes that the book will provide some guidance and inspiration to others who are suffering with mental health problems.

Below is an excerpt from her book :

Living with Dad

Things had finally started to calm down now,
But that just made things worse ,
Because it made me sit there wondering how,
My life had been overrun with this curse .

I was living at my dad’s house ,
When my mind started to wonder away,
And I began to think of all the bad things,
And my depression , oh did it sway.

One night when I was home alone ,
I scoured the cupboards for all his pills,
I took handfuls and handfuls,
To try and kill me and my ills.

Not long after I got scared ,
So I called an ambulance to come for me ,
As much as I had had enough,
I was scared to die and be free.

This piece discusses my first ever attempt at taking my own life. I honestly think that in that moment I wanted it to be over. I wanted the suffering to be over. There are a lot of my friends and family who will remember this, but they will never know what was going on in my head at that moment. I had battled a life of feeling like I wasn’t good enough and I was only 16. I had already seen and experienced more in those short years than some people experience in a whole life time. I felt like my life was ruined, I had ruined it all. I had a list of criminal convictions behind me, why would I ever want to stay and live this broken life?

Sarah’s book can be found on Amazon : http://amzn.eu/d/1yixueL, and her twitter page is @BattisonSarah.