A Lichfield mental health counsellor and sben member is celebrating the landmark of publishing a collection of lifetime poems with the aim of giving people suffering from depression hope and solace.

Already a published author, Sheila McMahon’s second book entitled “Behind Closed Doors,” which features poems penned during episodes of depression in her teens, will be officially launched at the Lichfield Garrick next month.

With suicide remaining a leading cause of death in young people, aged 10-24, Sheila hopes that her poems will help raise awareness of the signs of depression and prevent tragedies.

Sheila said: “A person can feel very alone with feelings of guilt and shame when in episodes of depression. I am sharing my poems from a time when I felt those feelings to highlight that there is no shame in feeling how we really feel.”

Sheila is publishing her poems in the hope of helping others because she believes that hiding these feelings can exacerbate shame, contribute to mental illness, and may lead to suicide.

This intimate body of work, which extends her writing into adulthood, highlights her journey through her own counselling to manage her own mental illness, and her transformative path to becoming a counsellor herself who continues to help others today.

Sheila added: “I was helped when I needed it, I am just passing it on.

“Ultimately, I hope that by sharing this selection of poems, especially those penned in my darkest times of depression including in my teens and early 20s, I can give others who find themselves struggling hope and encouragement to find a way through.”

Sheila’s anthology also features poems about special events and people, as well as places that have inspired her during her lifetime, and with her background in comedy, there are some funny poems included too.

The anthology will be officially unveiled at an invite only book launch on Saturday, April 4, in the Lichfield Garrick Theatre’s lounge venue between 11am and 1pm.

Malcolm Bembridge, of Tamworth-based independent business MB Roofing and Property Maintenance, has not only featured in Sheila’s “Counsellor Convos” YouTube podcast series talking about men’s mental health, but also generously provided some sponsorship funding towards the cost of the book launch.

He said: “I can resonate with Sheila’s work in helping people and I want to support her.”

Please email contact@mindmanagementforyou.com if you would like to attend.

For more information on Sheila’s mental health work and services, please visit her website, where you can also buy her new book ahead of the official launch, at www.mindmanagementforyou.com.

Her first book, which was launched a decade ago, entitled, “The Power of Knowing you,” is also available to purchase on her website as well as on Amazon.