”Not your shame” is a journey through poetry and prose in becoming whole as a person, a journey in recovering from mental illness. This means that you get to follow the ups and downs and take part of the most painful but also beautiful parts.

It is so important to try to get rid of the shame revolving mental illness and help people to feel less alone, because we are not alone. It probably starts a lot with us, daring to share our own experiences that others can relate to. Another wide spread problem in society is violence against women, sexual abuse amongst others. That too is related to a lot of shame and guilt amongst the victims, not uncommonly from society but also from the victim herself. We learn from childhood how to act in order to avoid getting raped, getting assaulted.

But the guilt never belonged to us. Now, I want to do everything in my power to help, and I will start by peeling off the thick layers of protective clothing and reveal my darkness. The rawest and deepest feelings, thoughts and reactions after trauma. The shame does not belong to us, neither does the guilt.

The book content three parts:

Rape and a death wish

Dad and the grief

Love and hope

Anicia Sundström Eriksson was born 1995 and was raised in Huddinge, Stockholm. Today she shares life with her boyfriend and their cat in Västerhaninge. She works at a pre-school and has done so for the past year. Her spare time she preferably spends on writing and other creative activities such as photography, art and music. Baking is also a huge interest of hers!

Ever since she was a little kid, writing has been a kind of safety for her. To express and talk about feelings has always been a challenge for her, in every aspect, except for in writing where she has always been able to express all of what she never could or dared to talk about. It has many times acted as a form of therapy for her, to be able to get the anxiety down on a paper, to get it right in front of her in the shape of words instead of a chaos in her head. Totake out the pain and put it on a paper instead.