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Beyond Blue

If perfectionism is a crippling bastard, then unrealistic expectation is his obnoxious trophy wife. The two are disgustingly inseparable, and their full-time job is manufacturing anxiety inside a depressive’s head. Take this morning’s breakfast in my household. Eric practically hyperventilated in between bites of eggs as he observed the sorry state of our house (the…

Thanks to reader TJ Muktoyuk who asked, “How do I learn to reach out for help?” TJ, as long as you don’t expect everyone to understand (I’m speaking mostly of non-depressives), I think you can reach out in a variety of different ways: by checking out blogs on depression like Beyond Blue and online depression…

Speaking of races, triathlons, and contaminated Annapolis water, I was so relieved to read Charles Henderson’s article on how long distance running can be an important spiritual practice, because, here’s my confession: I can only meditate when I’m moving. The time that I reserve each day to swim, bike, or run is my hour with…

Here’s an excellent article written by Douglas Todd for Religion News Service about Archbishop Roussin’s depression and how he is fighting for better understanding of mental illness within religious communities. Once again, Roussin is my hero! Archbishop Raymond Roussin remembers the shame he felt when he first admitted to himself and others he was clinically…

I mentioned in my “Celebrity Depression, Spiritual Lessons” gallery how Brooke Shields’ memoir, “Down Came the Rain,” gave me permission to cry all I wanted, especially in the months after I started breastfeeding Katherine, when I started to sink into a very severe depression. This prologue is a beautiful explanation of how life unfolds often…

Gretchen Rubin and I are on the same mission: to find peace and happiness for ourselves and to spread it to others. The only difference between us, I think, is that 1) I couldn’t find the part where she has a mental breakdown on her blog (the idea for her “Happiness Project” came to her…

Every Wednesday is Tip Day on Gretchen’s blog. I might actually start a similar feature myself, but on Tuesday’s (“Tuesday’s Tips” sounds catchy, no?). Let me know if you’d like to see a regular feature like this on Beyond Blue. I asked Gretchen for her favorite “Wednesday is Tip Day” post. Here it is!Seven tips…

As I read the story “I Dreamed I Was a Ballerina” by Anna Pavlova to Katherine last night, I couldn’t help but think about my dream of becoming an inspirational writer–how that dream energizes me in the face of depression, and about my (sometimes feeble) attempts at using my weaknesses (a very short attention span…

I mentioned in my “Depression–The Full Monty” post that one way of triumphing over despair is by an act of kenosis, or self-emptying. As Soren Kierkegaard would say, of becoming “transparent under God.” This is what Walker Percy means when he refers to writers like himself as ex-suicides. In a fascinating article entitled “Walker Percy…

I usually read other writers’ biographies in the same way that I ride a roller coaster–with my hands over my eyes, but peeking every now and then–because I sort of want to know what’s coming next, and I sort of don’t. I get intimidated and jealous very easily, and during some of those insecure hours…
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