Introduction Foreword Writing Together Coping Within The System Coping On My Own Coping With Teenagers Coping With Relationships Live Performance

Naveed Mir

Destitutes Only Reside in this Room

I marched in, age 18, double time
RSM's orders
Up and down
Took the bullshit
Made the best friends of my life
Did my duty to Queen and Country.

I marched out age 22
With no orders to adhere to or obey
With a lot of time on my hands
To parties and to clubs
I often thought of my friends
But without duties
And without cohesive form.

I sat throughout the night age 30
And witnessed light upon light
And saw beauty beyond human comprehension
Which in my depression gave me the strength to live
And I realised that
"No one can save you from error of sin
until you have looked at the spirit within."

 

Having left the rigid structure of the army aged 22, Naveed, like many young men his age, had a breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He explains: 'the illness is a total destruction of your mind and a total destruction of your personality. Life is tough, but you mustn't let it defeat you. You can do anything. You can be anything. You just got to be strong, be steady, keep going.'