As of July 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic had infected over 570 million individuals and caused approximately 6.38 million deaths globally [1]. Not only did COVID-19 directly impact the physical health of the global population but also exacerbated its mental health due to the challenges and losses it brought.

Mental health outcomes linked to a pandemic constitute a complex and multi-layered concern [2]. While nearly 1 billion people suffer from a mental health condition [3], the most extreme and discernible mental health emergency is suicide with almost 800,000 people committing suicide every year [4]. Though services and systems need consistent assessment and adaptations to create and sustain appropriate, effective interventions [5, 6], now more than ever, we need to incorporate the public’s views of healing in the design of mental health services and encourage them to share their own perspectives about their health to allow for listening, learning, and healing. How do we address and improve mental health outcomes? How do we offer healing following the pandemic?

Note: At this time, submissions will only be accepted if written in English. Submissions should not have been previously published and should be properly formatted with little to no grammatical errors. Submissions will be accepted via Submittable. Please do not include any identifying information in your uploaded file.

Letters

Letters should be between 250 to 500 words. Letter submissions should be typed in 12-point font, Arial or Calibri, and single-spaced. Acceptable file types include: .csv, .doc, .docx, .odt, .pdf, .rtf, .txt, .wpd, and .wpf.

Poetry

Poems should be between 250 to 500 words. Poetry submissions should be typed in 12-point font, Arial or Calibri, and single-spaced. Acceptable file types include: .csv, .doc, .docx, .odt, .pdf, .rtf, .txt, .wpd, and .wpf.

Stories

Stories should be between 1000 to 2000 words. Story submissions should be typed in 12-point font, Arial or Calibri, and single-spaced. Acceptable file types include: .csv, .doc, .docx, .odt, .pdf, .rtf, .txt, .wpd, and .wpf.

Art

Artwork should be visual art and include a short narrative to briefly describe or introduce the illustration, painting, etc. Acceptable file types include: .csv, .doc, .docx, .odt, .pdf, .rtf, .txt, .wpd, .wpf, .gif, .jpg, .png, .svg, and .tif.

"Surprise Us"

While we ask for artwork, letters, poems, and stories, we know that people are very talented and have other ways of expressing themselves. If your submission does not fit into one of the other four categories, please submit it here. We will be happy to view whatever you surprise us with! Acceptable file types include those of text, images, audio, video, and others. Please email us at info@light4ph.org if your file is not accepted. Disclaimer: Artwork, letters, poems, and stories that are submitted to “Surprise Us” will be disqualified. Please submit them to their corresponding sections.

We include a form on Submittable that is entitled “Under 18 Submissions” where all individuals under the age of 18 can submit their creative work in any of our five categories (art, letters, poetry, stories, “surprise us”).