Depression can be a powerful force in a person’s life. It brings very unique and diverse forms of pain, it makes people feel and do things they wouldn’t normally, and it also causes very counterintuitive and confusing symptoms, making it notoriously difficult to soothe. Compiled here is a list of tips for comforting a depressed… Continue reading How To Comfort Someone With Depression (By Someone With Depression)

My therapist is a godsend. Specifically: I have been admitted to the psychiatric hospital so many times I can’t even remember all of them anymore (I have borderline personality disorder, which accounts for something like a quarter of psych hospitalizations, according to this study). There’s a strict procedure for discharging patients, which in my experience… Continue reading Notice Your Self-Judgements

I frequently wrestle with identity ambiguity. Daily, I find myself obsessing over that haunting question, “Who am I?” It’s already a hard enough dilemma as it is, without my mental illness complicating everything.  Ever since I found out I have pathological disturbances of mood, I frequently catch myself oscillating between two opposite modes of thought:… Continue reading You’re Not Your Disease, Probably

Depression affects millions of people worldwide, but here’s something many still don’t know about it: One of the very first things it can take from you, right up there with your energy and your motivation and your sense of self, is your ability to feel love. And, apart from the abject pain, that might be… Continue reading Count Your Passions