Image credit: Caroline Selfors on Unsplash Not too long ago, I was thinking how hard it is to imagine how horrible I felt most of my life. I figured that was a good sign, being so far removed from it. Maybe I would never feel that way again. But then my girlfriend and I watched a movie called The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Have you seen it? It’s about a boy in ninth grade who gets picked on…
Image by Finn on Unsplash I’ve been living with depression since 1984, and believe me, I’ve heard a lot of ignorant comments about mental health issues. One comment stands out the most: “What do YOU have to be depressed about?” I’ve wanted to smack each person who asked me that! If you have a history of depression, you know how much damage a question like that can do. Not only is it painfully ignorant but it’s also rude. It…
Image credit: Vladislav Babienko Last month, I wrote a post that posited that if you change your behaviors, your thoughts will follow. In other words, instead of endlessly waiting for the motivation to do something, just do the thing. Your thoughts will eventually follow and reinforce what you’re doing, which, in turn, becomes a habit – hopefully a healthy one, like working out. Our experiences can actually change the neural pathways in our brains. This is called neuroplasticity. As…
Image credit: Amin Moshrefi on Unsplash If there’s one thing I hope we learned in 2020, it’s that we can’t take our health – mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual – for granted. I mean, let’s face it – 2020 sucked. The entire world was thrown into a situation it was mostly unprepared for. That was especially true here in the U.S. Out of the more than 116 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide as of this writing, there have been…
Image credit: George Pagan III on Unsplash I used to think that everything I told myself had to be true, that the stories I told myself (like that I was no good and I was damaged) were factual. When my brain would tell me that I was always going to be depressed – and it told me that constantly – I believed it. And when it told me, “You don’t deserve to be loved; you are not worthy,” I…
Image credit: Hello, I’m Nik on Unsplash DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) is a treatment for depression which has been paramount in changing my attitude as well as the stories I tell myself. It has made a big difference in my life. It occurred to me recently, though, that I’ve never written a post about it; I’ve just poked and prodded at it. That’s been a big oversight on my part, and it changes now. As one of only two…
Welcome to Mental Health Moment (MHM) #10! MHMs are shorter posts and often include a list of some sort, making them quicker to read. Image credit: Todd Diemer Do you know what Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is? It’s a type of depression that’s brought on by a lack of sunlight. It usually hits during the fall and winter months, and it can hit hard. SAD can, less often, bring about dark moods in the spring and summer. It…
**TW: SUICIDAL IDEATION** This post is full of Hope. But it is also about surviving depression and suicidal thoughts; thus, the trigger warning. If you are feeling sensitive to such things right now, don’t read it. You can always skip it or come back to it later, when you’re feeling stronger. Image credit: Sydney Sims I’ve started this blog post four times and, dammit, this one is going to stick! LOL The first version was about Seasonal Affective…
Image credit: Ylanite Koppens I was born to write. Unfortunately, I was also born to be depressed. Keeping a traditional journal is one way to get your thoughts and feelings out of your head so you can take a more objective look at them. But writing long-form, even if it’s a rules-free method such as free association or a “vomit draft,” in which you write down whatever comes to mind without censoring it, takes time, energy, and commitment. I…
Image credit: Glenn Carstens-Peters About a month ago, I was feeling quite depressed. And since my depression had been in remission for a while, I was surprised. Despite knowing from experience that I would eventually feel better and be able to get through my days without feeling that damn hole in my heart, I still felt distraught. Depression makes you feel like it’s never going to get better, that you will always feel that way. It is the nature…
Image credit: Pawel Czerwinski Have you been doing the teletherapy thing? I have, and you know what? I hate it! I know, some people love it and would do it all the time if they could. But it’s not for everyone. I mean, I like my new therapist, but having sessions over the phone or via videoconferencing software is just not for me. MAYBE IT WAS THE TIMING So, I started with my current therapist, Jacqueline, in January of…
Image credit: Gaelle Marcel for Unsplash **TW: SUICIDE** This post talks about suicide. Please do not continue if you think it might be a trigger for you. There are resources listed at the end of this post. Hello, fellow Warrior! Well, it’s taken me more than three years to do it, but I’m finally writing my 100th post! 🙂 That means a lot to me, because my moods tend to dictate what I’m willing/able to do – and I…
Image by Priscilla Du Preez ¡Hola, Warrior! 😉 I don’t know about you, but I’m an introvert. I need a lot of time to myself in general, and especially after doing anything social. I need to “recharge my batteries,” so to speak. And I’ve always been this way. I’ve been saying for decades that there’s a finite amount of sociability in me at any given time. Still, there are times even I feel the need to socialize. But COVID-19…
There are many negative terms used to describe someone with a mental illness. Indulge me for a moment: Crazy and the related “Cray-Cray” Weird/Weirdo Nuts/Nutso Stupid Psycho Cracker Jacks (There simply is no limit on derogatory terms) There is also a number of derogatory terms used in place of “psychiatric unit”: Nuthouse Psycho ward Looney bin (Fill in the blank) These are all hurtful words that can damage a person’s psyche, especially if they already suffer from low self-esteem and…
Well, hello there, fellow Warrior! I wanted to let you know that the focus of the Depression Warrior website will be changing ever-so-slightly. I’ve been feeling so much better lately that I changed the tagline to the site from “Fighting the Stigma of Mental Illness and Addiction” to “On Surviving Depression”. I think it sounds more hopeful, maybe even a little positive. It also better reflects what I write about. Now, onto today’s post! FEELING BETTER I was thinking yesterday…
Photo by Alexas Fotos It’s a strange time in this world. And honestly, it’s starting to freak me out a little. Depression and anxiety thrive in times of chaos and disarray. People are hoarding essentials like toilet paper, paper towels, bread, meat – even Cap’n Crunch. Much of the U.S. has been either asked or ordered to stay home to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Here in Michigan, we’ve been stuck inside for three weeks, with at least…
Photo by Ryan McGuire What is a safety plan, anyway? A safety plan is a document that lists everything you can think of that will keep you safe from harming yourself or others, or from dipping way down the continuum of depression. I’ve had one for many, many years. I now need to update it because I moved to another state and I need to rebuild my professional support team. Do you have a safety plan? It can be very…
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash Every so often, I like to publish a post about general mental health care. With Thanksgiving and Christmas now in the rear-view mirror and a new year bearing down on us, I thought this would be a good time to remind you to pay more attention to your well-being than you usually do. Certainly, the holidays can bring out the best in people – their smile may be a bit brighter, their words a little less sharp,…