In this week’s Safe Home Podcast, Beth talks with Colin Parrott, a 16-year-old from Huntington Beach who has been struggling with depression. He has gotten help with his mental illness from his awesome mom Debbi and from modern medicine. But perhaps the best tool he’s found has been poetry. He’s written a whole book of poetry about his depression called Shards. The process of writing poetry has not only helped him make sense of his mental health, but his poems help others understand what he and others with depression go through. Near the end of the episode, Colin will be sharing a poem or two from his new book, so stick around until the end!

Joey and Beth both also struggle with depression, which you can hear about in Episode 11. It is something that our family is very open about, because you know what - depression kills! We’re very glad that Colin was willing to come on Safe Home Podcast to share his story. We believe that the more people talk about things like depression and other mental health issues, the more we’ll be able to help each other, and the more lives we’ll save - quite literally.

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RESOURCES:

Colin’s information:

• Colin’s poetry book Shards: https://www.amazon.com/Shards-Colin-James-Parrott/dp/B0B1C1PMMD
• LA Times article about Shards: https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2022-06-04/shards-uses-poetry-to-tell-huntington-beach-teenage-poets-battle-with-depression
• Colin’s website: http://colinjparrott.com/
• Colin’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colinjparrott

Other Resources:

• Other Parents Like Me -  https://www.facebook.com/other.parents.like.me
• Heather Ross - Life Coaching for Parents of Addicted Teens: https://heatherrosscoaching.com/
• Find a Tele-Therapist: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/online-counseling

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Safe Home is created by Joseph Nakao and Beth Syverson

Music written and performed by Joseph Nakao

Cover art by Joseph Nakao, photo by Beth Syverson

Email questions or comments to Safe Home at [email protected]

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Support Safe Home on Patreon: Patreon.com/SafeHome

www.SafeHomeFamilies.com

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TIME STAMPS:

1:36 Colin’s poetry-writing and other writing experience before his depression

3:32 How Colin’s depression and self-harm started and what it looked like

6:26 What Colin’s parents did to cause Colin to feel safe to tell them when he was self-harming

8:14 How meds worked for Colin’s depression

10:36 Colin’s poetry-writing in NYC

14:48 Colin’s advice for kids who are struggling with depression symptoms

17:30 Colin’s advice for parents of struggling kids

19:52 Colin reads his poem “Sunrise Relapse”

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