Mindfulness and Depression

Depression could very often feel like a trap. It's a deep well that seems to get deeper and darker by the second. Very often medication can help bring about a return to normalcy, but it easy to get reliant on medication.

I was diagnosed with extreme depression in 2006 and started taking meds shortly thereafter. I took a variety of different SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor) for many years. At one time I started to think of the medication as a maintenance medication and resigned myself to the fact I was going to be on these drugs for the rest of my life.

Mindfulness and Autism

Over the last few years I have become increasingly aware of autism and it's effects  on the family. Once only a word I heard at conferences it now gained greater importance to me as several of my friends' children were diagnosed with the disorder. They would call me and confide their fears and anger and confusion. We would sit and talk over coffee and they would share what they learned from their doctor or from an article they read or a conference they attended. As they learned, so did I. I was inspired to start researching autism for myself. What I discovered shocked me.  I saw myself and my childhood friends in the behaviors attributed to and found mostly in people on the autistic spectrum. I began to understand that all my friends and I were living somewhere on the spectrum but were never diagnosed. There is a lot more awareness towards autism today and tools for managing the disorder than there were in the 70s and 80s. This is a good thing.

Three Steps for Managing Depression

Oscar Award winning actor and comedian Robin Williams took his life today. A talented man decided his demons were too strong. He was 63. Mr. Williams and I have one thing in common. Depression.

I was diagnosed with severe depression and moderate anxiety in 2006 while going through my separation and divorce. Depression is one of those invisible diseases where people always say, “Funny, you don’t look sick.” They mean well, they just don’t understand. People try to be empathetic by saying, “I know. I’ve been down too.” Or even worse, “We all have problems, you just have to put on your big boy pants and suck it up!” Depression is still a social stigma. We treat it like the crazy uncle that gets invited to Holiday dinner. Everyone knows he’s there, but no one says anything.