Jody Lee struggled with drink and drugs for 20- plus years . During that time , and through his subsequent recovery , the one thing that has remained constant in Jody Lee ’ s life was his love of poetry , which he now uses to help others . Lee ’ s raw , honest and inspiring poems are part of a series of poems and illustrations from people with experience of mental health or drug and alcohol problems that have been collected in a book titled , Writing for our lives . The book , which aims to a shine a spotlight on the role that expressive arts can play in the road to recovery , was
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launched at the Victoria Library in London in March .
Lee , who is known as The Skinny Poet , appeared on the World at One on BBC Radio 4 to promote the book and explained how writing kept him ‘ connected ’ to part of himself during his 20- year struggle with cocaine and heroin addiction .
‘ Poetry helps me to be able to express myself with some of the things that I struggled with , some of the dark parts of my addiction , my anger , my fear , my selfdestructive tendencies ,’ he says . ‘ To be able to express these in a creative and healthy way helped me deal with the sadness and grief I felt over the time I ’ ve lost
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through my addiction . By sharing this work with other people who ’ ve been through that process as well , they really seem to connect to it , which is what pushed me to share it with others .’
Lee grew up in a house were drugs were ‘ readily available ’, as his father was a drug dealer . He started drinking and smoking cannabis at 13 . It then progressed to speed , cocaine and eventually heroin , and any other drugs he could get his hands on . ‘ It was just completely normal to me ,’ says Lee . ‘ Drinking and drug taking was just a way of life . I watched my dad and all of his friends do it . Most people I knew did it .’
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