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
SMART Recovery
My Remarkable Journey to Just Be Me
My life has been me and then me as a title. Son, husband, father, writer, manager, greeting card company developer, resume writer, career coach, business owner, fisherman. And this is just the shortlist. After being in the hospital for major depressive disorder, I noticed this idea. It is the idea that I am not good enough just as myself. I am a good manager, father, … [Read more...] about My Remarkable Journey to Just Be Me
What Depression Doesn’t Want You To Know About Unhelpful Thinking Styles
Predictable, steady, expectable, certain, sure, unsurprising, humdrum, obvious, and foreseeable. That is my life. And that has been my life for several months. I guess it is always something. And depression has clouded my life with generous helpings of unhelpful thinking. A year ago, I was fixated on not being able to get started in the morning. It took five months of … [Read more...] about What Depression Doesn’t Want You To Know About Unhelpful Thinking Styles
My 101 Best Coping Statements For Anxiety and Depression
Coping Statements for my anxiety and depression help me live a balanced life. It turns out that I was using them at times before I understood what they are. For years it was unclear to me why they work. But because of my hospitalization last year for major depressive disorder, I was introduced to the science behind coping statements. As I found tools to help me with … [Read more...] about My 101 Best Coping Statements For Anxiety and Depression
How I Use Mental Health Programs to Avoid Circling the Drain
I’m not 100% sure I would be alive if I hadn’t found these powerful organizations. When I was admitted to the hospital last spring, I was seeing zero hope. Nothing. I was up against the wall, smashed as tightly as possible and I could not see anything. There was an empty place in my heart where hope had been, but it was not there that day. Heck, I hadn’t seen hope in … [Read more...] about How I Use Mental Health Programs to Avoid Circling the Drain