Mental limericks about psychiatry

Everyone takes stock of their physical health from time to time. It’s perfectly normal to talk with friends and colleagues about diet and exercise habits and tips to tone up one’s body. But when it comes to monitoring one’s mental health, a powerful stigma still surrounds the subject.

I’m no exception. I hate discussing my mental health. And if you knew me, you’d quickly understand why. But writing poetry about it, that’s a whole other bucket of fish. I’ve written ballads about depression, sonnets about depth psychology, and limericks about psychiatry.

Over the years, I’ve come to learn that some of the biggest fans and supporters of my metaphysical limericks are either medicated, institutionalized, or under some form of continuous care. And I’ll be the first to admit that the writing of limericks is something I do as a form of meditative practice and nothing less than a balm for my own piece of mind. Without them, I might be somewhere out on a ledge.

Finally, before jumping in head first, I’d like to thank my anonymous psychology professor who provided inspiration for some of the more recondite subject matter that follows and that might find you reaching for the latest edition of the DSM. Thank you, J, and I look forward to more challenging topics!

‘Cluster B Persona’
There once was an impotent narcissist 
Who needed a natural pharmacist 
To prescribe him a root
But his case was acute
And that’s why he found himself hard to resist

‘Cognitive Reappraisal’
A device to support us when coping
With life when it’s downwardly sloping
Is to pause and give thanks
By replacing your angst
With a little more laughing and hoping

‘Polyvagal Theory’
With body and mind in suspense
It may come at tremendous expense 
So learn to finagle 
The nerve they call vagal
To process traumatic events

The journey begins with biology
To reach polyvagal neurology
And then we dismember
The things we remember
To treat the traumatic pathology

‘Internal family systems therapy’
Like a family that’s fraught with dysfunction
Interiors must work in conjunction
To form an alliance
And strengthen the balance
So psyche can properly function

‘Non-Prophet Prescriptions’
A god-stricken poet from Aberdeen
Convinced he could channel the Nazarene
But not the Messiah
He’s just a pariah
In need of his benzodiazepine

‘Sleep Disorders’
With circadian rhythms disrupted
There’s nothing goes uninterrupted
Fatigued without warning 
By evening or morning
One’s sense of belonging’s corrupted

‘Nigredo’
There’s an anguish we’re called to unpack
From the black that is blacker than black
Like what rots in the ground
We’re eventually bound
To dissolve and with vigor grow back

‘ADHD’
Enduring the Culture of Wow 
To reduce our attention and how
Just a swipe at the screen
But it’s not what we mean 
When we talk about Being Here Now

‘OCD’
The obsessive compulsive condition
Will often demand repetition
And ritual practice
Restores the exactness
When objects are out of position

Further Reading

If you liked these limericks about Psychiatry and mental health disorders, you’ll be sure to enjoy:

• Limericks about Mental Health
• Limericks for the down and out
• Limericks about Jungian Psychology
• Limericks about Dostoyevsky