Living with Depression

Is always hard...

Often lonely...

Sometimes debilitating...

But you know what??

You need to push through,

You need to pick yourself up,

You need to be grateful & thankful out loud for all the wonderful things you have,

You need to plan & prepare ahead for the catastrophe that IS going to ensue with or without warning,

You need to outsource support,

You need regular contact with others who are willing to just do life wherever you stand and under any circumstance,

And you need to give your support also,

You need to be flexible,

You need to get your chill out time in between life,

You need to relax,

You need to find suitable coping methods,

You need to learn to get out of the way,

You need to learn and put into practice making 'things' easier for others,

You need to learn to recognize the signs 'it's happening' and alert someone else BEFORE it's too late,

You need to be able to predict what's going to happen before it actually happens,

And you need to not take things so personally.


Depression is a debilitating and highly selfish mental illness (I dare you to challenge me on its selfishness! Go on! Cos I have 8 years of personal experience to back me up - what have you got?)

Just the word itself evokes all sorts of different responses & emotions in all sorts of people.

People judge & tell stories about the family who has a depressed person in it, and it hurts a whole deal too much, but you learn to get on with it and find your reason to stand against the un-truths of what they assume/declare/decide about you/Believe about you.

You make sure you know what the TRUTHs are in your situation and let the ill-conceived opinions of others where they belong.. With them.

And at the end of the day, Remember, that there are other people around you, who know you, or of you, who think you are strong, who think you are courageous, and think you are amazing, and you've gained these qualities through the trials and tribulations of a hard-kind-of-a-blessed-life.

& I'm not even the one with the Depression!!


5 Things I am thankful for
1. My kids, who give purpose & reason for the day-to-day grind of life
2. My God, who gives me comfort
3. Being in a better place, both physically & emotionally then I was a few years back
4. Wonderful loving support
5. Being free to talk about the kind of life I've had to live without the shame, the condemnation and the guilt associated with it, cos its not my fault, it just is.