The sun may shine brightly and the birds sing nearby. The clouds are not many when the Summer doesn't cry.
The grass, so green when Spring rolled around. The leaves have all fallen when Fall comes to town.
The coldness sets in, as daylight departs. Withdrawn within, where is the heat in my heart?
Ever so tender was Springs fresh air. Frozen in ice is November's despair.
Troubles have mounted and reached their peak. No one is around, for none do speak.

From November 2nd through 10th, 2023 I suffered a complete mental and emotional collapse. At first, I could not walk or talk or see beyond the end of my own nose. I had cocooned, and everything that is me was within a shell as hard as a diamond. Nothing could break through. That was the beginning. The beginning was nothing. No thoughts, no words, just a blank empty stare into whatever happened be before me at that time. What followed was my restoration.

Such a tale as mine could not feasibly be contained within the pages of one book. The fall, the crash and the restoration. Even the restoration itself cannot be covered in entirety within one telling. As I was told in the emergency room, recovery takes a long, long time. It's been well over a year and I'm still on that lonely road labeled recovery. However, part of the story can be told, and I feel should be told, that perhaps others might find a sense of hope. Mental illness is not the end but a chance for a new beginning. As with all new beginnings they often take place in the dark.

This is my story. From the darkness of a foggy night to an ascent onto the grounds lighted by rainbows, the events as described in this little book happened to me. They are most certainly not unique. However, there may be many people out there who have never been in a psych ward and don't know what it's like. There may be those out there who need to go into a psych ward and are afraid of what they will find. I don't know that this book will ease any fears, but it will give one an understanding of what it's like to be a psych ward patient. If I can accomplish that much, then these efforts here are not in vain.

Kendrick Sims
March 2025