If I weren't still dragging around the fear of what they might say, I would openly use my 500th blog post to email this letter to my friends and family. Dear Friend, I suffer from depression. (1) My life with depression started before I was 19, and depression has been a factor in most of my life’s decisions, both small and large. I do not say this to excuse my … [Read more...] about Stigma Has Kept Me From “Coming Out” With My Depression
SMART Recovery
My Depression Operates in The Smallest Spaces
Before I began learning about how depression works, all I knew were my spectacular crashes. As I thought back on my life, I could clearly see four major episodes that my depression exacerbated. These were times where I was circling the drain, was up against the wall, and could not see any way forward. To an outsider, I can only imagine how that must have looked. But for … [Read more...] about My Depression Operates in The Smallest Spaces
With Depression, I Can Do What I Want, Can’t I?
Having control over my attitude towards events is all I can do. But that one thing is extremely powerful. It sent men to the moon after the Soviet Union put Sputnik into space. The US program was still launching high-altitude weather balloons. After Sputnik, the attitude of the country was “we have to do something.” And Kennedy making that promise, in front of the world … [Read more...] about With Depression, I Can Do What I Want, Can’t I?
OK, I’m Ready To Get Started!
The first email I can find about the project was from the middle of March. (Please read to the end. Sometimes I need to warm up to the depression part) That was 5 months ago. Then, it seemed like only a matter of weeks and the garage construction would be underway. With three estimates in hand and conversations with all three contractors, we had made our choice. March … [Read more...] about OK, I’m Ready To Get Started!
Unhelpful Thinking Says There’s No Time, Not Even For Self-care
The recycling must be taken for pick up tomorrow and the trash must go to the landfill. There is no publicly funded trash or recycling pick-up in the rural community we live in. If you want trash pickup at your home, you must pay a company to come and get it. Cardboard and aluminum cans can still be recycled at the landfill. Plastics, glass, and everything else is no longer … [Read more...] about Unhelpful Thinking Says There’s No Time, Not Even For Self-care