Youth Be Heard
Anxiety,  Depression,  Mental Health,  Poetry,  Writing

Intense Emotions

By Molly Dickerson, 17, MA

being abandoned

feels like mourning

a death

and getting a B

in school

feels like failing

rejection

feels like hatred

and being ignored

feels like

i’m invisible

depression

feels like grief

and annoyance

feels like rage

being criticized

feels like

i’m a horrible person,

like everything

is wrong with me

anxiety

feels like

the end of the world

and trying to be patient

feels like i’m going

to explode

eating a meal

feels like 

gaining 100 pounds

and peering into the mirror

feels like looking at

the ugliest person

to ever exist

my heart beating fast

feels like i’m dying

and my stomach

doing flips

feels like being diagnosed

with a terminal illness

one little argument

feels like 

wanting to disappear,

like everyone

would be better off

without me

i feel emotions

so much stronger

than everyone else

and no one gets

how intense

they feel to me.

my mind 

is constantly spinning,

like when you spin

around and around

and can’t find

your balance.

my emotions 

are bombs 

in my brain

that get set off 

by the simplest things

and my thoughts

are race cars.

they race 

to be heard

and to be seen

and to be processed

and they race

faster and faster

until i can’t catch up.

i want to feel emotions

the way others do.

i want to feel

excitement

without feeling

like i’m jumping

out of my skin.

i want to feel 

irritated

without wanting

to destroy everything.

i want to feel

sad

without losing

all hope.

i want to feel emotions

at the regular level

of intensity,

not like i’m

dying

or crying

or sad

or mad

all the time.

i want

to be 

normal.


I wrote this poem about my struggles with mental health, and difficulty dealing with my emotions. This poem explains the extremes in which I feel anger, depression, anxiety, and even joy.

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Photo by Victor Rodriguez

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