Today, I am alive and thriving. However, I know that: My two-year journey towards recovery has not been a straight line upward. In fact, shortly after getting out of the hospital, I wasn’t even sure there was a line. Or that there was a path forward. Two years later, it is getting easier to see my future. And I am back to planning future activities. This is … [Read more...] about Two Years Later, My Depression Has Lifted
Depression
How To Take Control and Use Coping Statements
If you haven’t tried coping statements lately, you are in for a surprise. Getting straight talk about using coping statements has been a goal of mine. I have seen these skills in action and wanted to be able to us coping strategies or coping statements to help me lead a more balanced life. In my situation, I want to lead a balanced life with depression. Others may be … [Read more...] about How To Take Control and Use Coping Statements
Am I Getting Enough Genuine Sleep To Guarantee My Mental Health?
My first thought is to ask how you define “getting enough sleep.” Now I can say I am in bed for 8 hours almost every night, sometimes a little longer. But I am not sure that qualifies as sleep. Most of my nights are a series of short naps followed by short times awake. This pattern had been changing to longer times asleep but seems to have reinvented itself in the past … [Read more...] about Am I Getting Enough Genuine Sleep To Guarantee My Mental Health?
Looking Back at My Past; In What Ways Have I Changed?
This question is something I have been thinking about for a while. It has been 22 months since I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with MDD, major depressive disorder. And my journey towards recovery and a balanced life has not been a straight line upward. I have experienced setbacks and hiccups along the way. Yet, here I am today, a much stronger version of … [Read more...] about Looking Back at My Past; In What Ways Have I Changed?
Sensational Ways Depression Sometimes Wins
Some days, there is no fairy tale ending. I wish it weren’t so. But depression and I are locked in a tug of war. Sometimes I can pull harder. And often depression pulls the hardest. Depression and I have been engaged in this tug of war for over 40 years. You would think I would understand the way it works by now. And the more tools I collect to deal with depression, the … [Read more...] about Sensational Ways Depression Sometimes Wins