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Recover Life from Depression

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Leaving Lamictal and Antidepressants for Now

Written by John Folk-Williams

By phasing out lamotrigine, known more widely by the trade name Lamictal, I have recently ended 18 years of uninterrupted medication use to treat depression. It’s been a rough ride with 20 different psychotropic drugs. I had a few good periods with their help, but for the most part the results have been disappointing. My recovery started after years of taking antidepressants, years during which the condition steadily worsened. My [...] Read more »

blue frozen landscape under brightening sky

Dreams of Depression and Healing

Written by John Folk-Williams

Dreams of depression have often marked moments of crisis or breakthrough to recovery in my experience, but it has been many years since I’ve written about them. Here is a revised version of a post – actually a journal entry – that reminded me how mysterious the cycles of the illness can be. Depression comes, depression goes, and I have no idea why. Sometimes, I suddenly break out of it [...] Read more »

Worried girl crouching in corner

Finding Safe Haven from Childhood Fear

Written by John Folk-Williams

A psychiatrist friend once summarized a basic tendency he saw in children from their earliest years. He said that a child could grow up either trusting the people and world he lived in or feeling insecure and uncertain about them. A child would either feel safe or unsafe, and a lot depended on this basic emotional orientation. He told me about one of his neighbors, a boy about two and [...] Read more »

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Self-Help for Depression

The mission of this site is to provide information to help you get your life back from depression. It reflects the experience of people like you and me who struggle with the illness every day. For more, please read the About section. To get acquainted, START HERE.

Relationships in Crisis

One of the hardest challenges of living with depression is holding onto your closest relationships. A depressed partner can push the most loving bond between two people to the breaking point. This section features posts on how to help a relationship survive. Read More.

Living Depressed

What's it like living with depression day in, day out? The illness affects emotions, mental abilities, self-concept, behavior, relationships and the entire body. These core posts bring to life the personal experience of living with the varied impacts of depression. Read More.

Choices in Healing

Everyone with depression wants nothing more than to get better, but that strong desire provides only a motive for recovery, not a method for getting there. This section has posts about therapies and healing methods you can work with either on your own or with professional guidance. Read more.

Living Well

If you can get depression symptoms under control, you may still feel the need for something more. You likely want to have a fulfilling life rather than one dominated by fear that the illness might return. In this section, you'll find posts about how to work toward that goal. Read More

About the Author

John started blogging about his lifelong experience with depression in 2007 at Storied Mind. Psych Central has twice chosen the site as a Top Ten depression blog, and Blogs.com has also recognized it as one of the top ten. In addition to Storied Mind, John blogs at MentalHelp.Net and the My Depression Connection community at Health Central. Read more »

Terms of Use

DISCLAIMER: None of the content on this site should be interpreted as medical or therapeutic advice about the treatment of depression or any mental illness. If you feel you need help, you should seek treatment from qualified professionals.

AFFILIATES: This site has an affiliate relationship with Amazon. That means we make a few cents on each dollar you spend when you buy through the book and DVD links found in posts or in The Store.

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