Michelle Torez

About The Author Michelle Torez www.michelletorez.com *************** Michelle Torez is an established author who has won various national writing awards. Her style is often described as 'extremley dark, gritty and brutally honest'. She is a regular article contributor for the criminal justice charity Unlock, and also the leading national mentalhealth charity Mind due to Michelle being such a passionate mental health campaigner. Michelle has endured so much trauma and horrific experiences she has became an inspiration for many people to look up to. Her poetry book 'Broken Doll' was ranked in the top 1,000 for poetry due to her frankly open depiction of abuse in the NHS mental health system. In 2009 she came 3rd place nationally for Fiction with The Koestler Trust writing competition with her short story 'Interaction Is Pain'. She has had various poems published in both national and international writing magazines. LIFE *************** Michelle was born in October 1994 in Hull, East Yorkshire, England. She was brought up by her lone father due to her mother having serious mental health problems. At the tender age of twelve following a mental breakdown, Michelle took a knife to her secondary school and waited outside, ready to threaten people with it. She was subsequently arrested, charged with ‘possession of an offensive weapon’ and subjected to a section 37 hospital order. She was kept locked up for 5 years in ‘Roycroft Clinic’, a scandal infested unit in Newcastle Upon Tyne where she was subjected to mental and sexual abuse. This unit is where Michelle wrote most of the poems that feature in the collection 'Broken Doll'. Luckily many staff got sacked for child abuse and inappropriate behaviour. The newspaper articles on this are still available to read. Type ‘Roycroft Clinic Newcastle’ into google if you’d like to read about this. Many professionals can’t understand why Michelle was locked up for so long and have agreed with Michelle’s view that it was ridiculously unfair and counterproductive as it has damaged Michelle’s ability to develop socially and emotionally. In total, Michelle served 8 years locked up in secure services which is the equivalent of getting a 16 year sentence in prison. People do less for armed robbery or even rape. Due to having this conviction and other mentalhealth related convictions, Michelle has been unable to gain employment and is banned for life for most jobs. The uk mentalhealth system is an uncaring one that criminalizes people far too young. Michelle has also been given a criminal conviction for contacting her local crisis team 'when not suicidal enough' in early 2018, following her grieving over a friend's suicide. She has also been given various mentalhealth diagnoses including Borderline Personality Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression & Aspergers Syndrome (a form of Autism). Michelle currently lives in Leeds, and is studying for a BA (Hons) in English Literature & Creative Writing with The Open University. She is working on new titles and due to all of the horrific experiences she has experienced continues to campaign for better mental health services.