Lemanie Tomkins is currently a service user at Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke, a service run by Cygnet Health Care that provides an emergency admission service for both men and women struggling with their mental health.
She has been writing for only a year and now, aged 20, she has published a poetry book titled ‘Pain into Poetry’ to support others experiencing the same as her.
Lemanie is a patient on the Knightstone Ward at Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke, a 15-bed highly specialised service for women with personality disorders and complex needs. The service offers assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for these women.
The poetry collection highlights Lemanie’s experiences of being an inpatient at mental health hospitals and gives insight into her personal battles with depression and self-harm.
She said: “With mental health, there is so much stigma surrounding it. In my opinion, it is a topic that is highly misunderstood. I started writing to try and break some of this stigma and give hope to people who are also suffering with their mental health.
“I want people to know they are never truly alone and there is always someone out there who understands how you feel.”
Lemanie, who has been at Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke for just over six months, reflected on her happiness on the day of publishing.
She said: “I was so shocked and surprised that I could even publish a book. But I was very proud of myself.
“My family took me out to dinner to celebrate and gave me a Congratulations card. I’d never been given anything like that before. That’s when it hit me that I’d really achieved something.
“All of this came from writing one poem a year ago called ‘I’ve Heard It All’. For me, it started my journey towards breaking the stigma people have around mental health.
“People used to say things like ‘You’re an attention seeker’ and I thought ‘I’ve heard it all’. I feel like that stigma needs to be broken.”
The London-born poet has already written her second book and is continuing to write before publishing it.
She said: “I write every day. I like writing around others and I get a lot of inspiration through talking to people. Some people give me advice and then inspiration just pops into my head. Being around others is great because people inspire me without even realising it.
“I’ve written poems when I was out in the local community and whilst I’ve been at Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke. I can write everywhere. Wherever I go, I find inspiration somehow.”
Lemanie is also looking forward to life after Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke and has aspirations to become an Expert by Experience. This is a role at Cygnet Health Care that sees former service users join the team to use their expertise to help improve the experiences of current patients.
She said: “I’d love to become an Expert by Experience because the lived experience I have is priceless. I can connect with people because of my own personal journey.
“I don’t know if it will ever happen but I have hope that I can work somewhere like Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke.”
You can buy Lemanie’s poetry collection ‘Pain into Poetry’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pain-into-poetry-Lemanie-Tomkins/dp/1917329598/ref=sr_1_1?crid=7SKLRI2PUYV4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uoB_SHIkLdKhptzckYlS2w.aqmMg2jmzCk6QZPHcLaY9daoXl2BXXkNaDZ5toHqhdY&dib_tag=se&keywords=lemanie+tomkins&qid=1746528191&sprefix=LEMANIE+TO%2Caps%2C62&sr=8-1