But they are.
This group of friends have all faced down varying degrees of mental illness, in this case, brought on or exacerbated by traumatic events in their lives, events over which they had no control. But this group has taken action which has transformed the lives of each member. Their coordinator believes it has consequently saved the NHS a fortune in drugs and counselling.
I'd agree.
You see, they wrote. They put it down on the page. They wrote about what happened to them, how they felt about it, how they feel now, what they think about the future.
I only got to hear about it because they've now published their writing in a book called "Grasping the Edge".
Now I need to be honest here. When journalists are told that some people have published their "creative writing" we usually roll our eyes and wonder how we are going to let them down gently. The standard isn't usually brilliant, and the chances of the world being set on fire by their book are slimmer than the book usually is.
But this time I knew the editor, Philomena Gallagher. I knew she has a gift for finding the people who need help, and finding a way of providing it. She knew perfectly well I was more interested in the people and their reasons for writing, than their actual writing. So I waited for a slow news day, fought my corner with "the producer" and set off to meet them.
The stories. Oh the stories! Arlene started writing after her son was stabbed to death - it was either that, or suicide. Olivia had written poems ever since her sexual abuse as a child, but now she doesn't have to hide her work. Agnes wrote about the violent domestic abuse she had suffered, because with the pen in her hand she now had control. They all had such stories to tell.
Each of them has known mental illness, and a real lack of self-worth. Each of them has been helped by their writing. They're even planning to take workshops in Italy later this year, at the request of a school there. I was looking for a story to make a good radio report, a simple job to pass my late shift. So I was embarrassed that they saw my visit as an encouragement and a major boost to their work.
These are not policy makers or opinion formers, these are not powerful people. Our Establishment does not consider them important. But it was a privilege to meet them.
You can hear their stories on the BBC iPlayer for a couple more weeks yet. Listen to Tuesday 2nd March from 1 hour, 13 minutes and 20 seconds in. It's really worth it - and on the upside, I don't speak at all. Take a look at the book here.
As alaninbelfast said to me on Twitter the next day. "Amazing what's out there that we never hear about".
Well now you have.
