A B S T R A C T

HE He was a scribble of a boy, Quick of wit, loud of voice, Never afraid to speak his mind, His presence, filled the room. Everything about him shone Like a little light shining, he was the light Much to everyone else's envy They began to despise him. For him, it wasn't simply just going to school, It meant a battle mentally, All he wanted, more than anything else in this world, Was to be taken from this life. This life, it's a cruel one, People live, people die, And more than ever did he wish, to be one of the people who die. The unrest, the emotions, It all became too much, And so he took the only option he felt he could, He jumped. Everything still, everything natural, The universe is an evil place, But he got his one and only wish, To die.

One in four adults in any given year will be diagnosed with a mental health issue. For adolescents, this rises to a shocking 40%. The current generation of young people are experiencing something of a surge in mental health issues and there is very little being done about it. There is limited support and education in schools and many parents simply don’t know what the signs of mental illness are. Teenagers often find their problems are rejected, being told they are attention seeking or that their distress is just part of growing up. There is also the issue of continuing stigma surrounding mental health; many people who have mental health problems are afraid to speak about it in fear of judgement, pity or exclusion. The rise in mental health problems could be a result of a multitude of things. One common suggestion is that the increase of use in social media has made young people more anxious as there is no break away from social pressures; our peers, and the social issues associat...

I did it to myself. It had been a bad night and I was feeling lower than I had in years. It had been a long time since something like this has happened and, looking back, I regret it. I had been so good, so good. I really thought it was the real thing this time, that I had recovered and outgrown these urges. Clearly, I was wrong. I picked up the small knife from the cutlery drawer. Nobody was here to stop me so I didn’t have to hide but, from force of habit I suppose, I went to my bedroom and shut the door. I sat on the bed, with the sheets still crumpled from last night’s sleep, and pulled up the edge of my shorts. I looked down and assessed where it was going to happen. Choosing a reasonably clear spot, I started. I always feel incredibly stupid when I think about what I have done to my own body. It’s shameful to think of how I have treated myself. It’s hard to explain but I guess that’s why I’ll never be comfortable talking about it with other people. I don’t even like ...

THE FEAR University, it's like school but for adults, at least that's how it's described to you by your older counterparts who've been there and done that. University is much more than that, university means big decisions, moving away from everything and everyone that you know and with that, comes fears. As someone who recently moved away to university, I know that moving away as a concept creates a lot of anxiety, as it did for me. From the whole experience I learnt, take university as an opportunity to broaden your horizons. One particularly endearing thing that's nice to remember when it comes to moving away to university is that, everyone else is in the same boat, they all share the same fears. The 8th of September 2017, for most people just another regular day, for me that day meant something quite different, it meant saying my final goodbyes to my friends and family. I was assured that moving away to Scotland would be both eye-opening and an adventure. ...

There’s always something so beautiful about the night, you don’t usually notice that because you’re sleeping or you should be,  that’s what I keep telling myself, everything still, natural as the day it was created I twist, I turn, take another glimpse at the clock on the wall, I sit there watching the hours go by, darkness turn to light I hear the birds calling and with that comes the harsh reality, This isn’t normal. Everyone tells me to ‘chill out’, if only it was as easy as that, I know it’s only sleep but, it forms a big part of the bodies functions, I’m not living any more, I’m just existing I sit in school, barely learning, I myself am barely functioning. When will this end, when will I be myself again, Everything I loved, everything I hated, it circulates in my mind I want to get better but, I just don’t know how, If there is a god up there, take me from this. This poem is a short representation of how some people who suffer with inso...

P eople often avoid older films (myself included) due to their reputation of being boring or having a low audio-visual quality by today’s standards. This means that often a lot of incredible movies get ignored or overlooked. So, I have decided to list three classic sci-fi films that have stood the test of time and should get you started. Poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001: A Space Odyssey   (1968)   is a true masterpiece of the sci-fi horror genre. An intriguing and strange introduction twined with a powerful audio presence keeps the viewer interested, even though little happens for the majority of the first half of the film. The star of 2001 is undoubtedly HAL, a murderous artificial intelligence, who’s onscreen performance is restricted to a basic panel with a single red glowing camera lens as an eye, supporting this is the voice acting of Douglas Rain playing HAL, which is simply is chilling. Though it is rather long and can get very surreal, it is a definite mu...