About

fractal squares in spiral 400 About

The concept of this blog is to build a small community based on the idea that writing stories is a useful method of fighting the impacts of depression and related mood disorders. My experience is that of a life-long sufferer from this quiet but deadly illness. I have no cures or therapies to offer. I have only stories, reflections, impressions, records of moments when a bit of life broke through. I invite you to share this space with me, to tell your stories to others who have similar issues to deal with. It’s a small step, a minor force when contending with the power of a major illness, but one that I have found helpful in ways that medication and therapies do not address.

Please read what looks interesting, and then try posting your own brief stories. That way we can start to build a small community of folks exploring moments, recognitions, encounters that have made a difference in the struggle to recover.

PLEASE NOTE: This site does not offer medical or therapeutic advice or step by step methods claiming to cure. The purpose is not to make suggestions to you about your treatment – that is between you and the professionals you consult.

All the original writing and images are copyright protected and cannot be used without explicit permission, except for fair use of brief excerpts with links back to this site.

Please send me an email (john@storiedmind.com) to obtain written permission to reproduce longer excerpts or full text of posts or pages. I will do the same for you.

20 Comments to “About”

1. Posted by TonyC, July 16th, 2009 at 11:09 pm

I love this site. I’m also diagnosed with Major Depression Recurrent. I”m in recovery now, and the path I took is “self improvement.” It’s working for me. I also so have started writing and blogging. The book that I am just finishing is titled “Rewarded for being me!” These and other thing have helped my on my way to recovery. I have a coule of blogs that have true stories out of my life. Check them out if you like. Thanks T.
http://lets-get-better.blogspot.com/
http://aclifton.blogspot.com/

2. Posted by john, July 17th, 2009 at 10:18 am

Thank you, TonyC -

I’m glad you enjoy the site. I look forward to getting to know your work. Good luck with that book – it sounds really interesting.

John

3. Posted by Tomas, September 7th, 2009 at 10:35 am

the wisdom that shines from your posts touched me deeply and thus I am happy to applaud to you the hot and to bow to you.
Your blog puts in the words what my pictures talk about visually.
Our emotions become just wonderful light to our path if we comprehend them. Be well my dear friend. I bookmarked your site and hope to meet you soon again.

4. Posted by john, September 8th, 2009 at 8:30 pm

Hello, Tomas -

This is so kind and moving to hear. I’ve been looking at your blog today and can see what you mean about my words and your images. But your pictures have an immediate power that touches a spirit and invites meditation and healing. They are profound and inspiring.

Thank you so much. I too hope to meet you again soon.

John

5. Posted by sil, January 8th, 2010 at 7:05 pm

I am so happy I found this site. My exhusband has clinical depression and this site has helped me understand what he is going through. It is sad that his ailment took over him, our marriage and ultimately caused us to divorce. i dearly love him, and hope that he will eventually find some peace. i wish I had seen this site before.

6. Posted by john, January 9th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

Thanks you, sil – I’m glad you found it too. I’m sorry about your divorce and the role of depression in taking him away. If years ago many of us had been able find a tiny part of the information that’s now all over the internet, I’m sure it would have made a big difference.

It would be great if you could share some of your thoughts and experiences here in the comments – if that’s possible for you.

Thanks for taking the time to leave this note.

John

7. Posted by Left Behind 13, February 22nd, 2010 at 4:58 pm

My husband was recently diagnosed with severe depression after a suicide attempt. 40 days later he filed for divorce. I look forward to reading this blog in order to gain some insight into what he is experiencing.

8. Posted by john, February 23rd, 2010 at 9:58 pm

Hi -

I’m glad you found us and hope these stories can provide some help for you at such a difficult time.

My best to you.

John

9. Posted by David, February 24th, 2010 at 4:20 pm

You’ve got a very useful site. I’m a psychotherapist in Washington, D.C., and I see a lot of depressed patients in my practice. I think they could benefit from your blog, finding comfort knowing someone else has similar thoughts and feelings. Also, your idea of sharing written stories made me think about my internship years ago in grad school when I ran groups for depressed patients and had them keep a journal for three months. I allowed them to write whatever they wanted — poems, short stories, diary entries, etc. They wrote some pretty powerful stuff, shared them with one another and connected with each other in an entirely new way.

10. Posted by john, March 1st, 2010 at 11:24 pm

Hello, David -

Thank you – it’s encouraging to hear that your patients might find this blog useful. Not only in this context but also in my work on collaboration, I’ve found, as you have, that stories communicate on a completely different level. (Story telling is now the subject of business communication books as well.) I was wondering if you have your current patients work at all with journals and creative writing?

I very much appreciate your taking the time to comment.

John

11. Posted by Helen, March 16th, 2010 at 2:58 am

Hello John,
Thank you for this site, I cannot believe how much I relate to many of your articles.
I think I may be finalling admitting to myself that I have depression that was initially fuelled by anxiety. I have tried to find every excuse as to why I have felt like I do and had the thoughts I have had and I don’t want to hide any longer. I am so frightened of losing what I have now that I don’t want to face whatever I have to face (I hope this makes sense) but I know that if I don’t I am going to lose it anyway as I pick at my partner and try to find ways that he could change to make me feel better. I think this started when I was 9 and my mother left home. Over the last couple of years anger has been building and memories of my childhood have been returning (I never used to think about it really). I have massive anxieties about my relationship and the fact that I may leave him one day, I am scared that if i let whatever I need to, go then I will change and we will not be the people I thought we were but I know I need to do this for me. Anyway, thanks again for your site.

12. Posted by john, March 16th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

Hi, Helen -

I think you’ve taken a big step in admitting to yourself that you have depression. It is a scary thing to face, and I imagine it must be almost overwhelming at this point. It’s always hard to know what to do, where to start, but reaching out online is a good thing. With all those memories of childhood, seeing a therapist might be a good idea to have a way of talking about it all that is safe. Putting your feelings and anxieties about the future into words can be very helpful – the latest post is about that. But writing can serve the same purpose. I’d be very careful about making any major decision concerning your family until you’ve gotten well along with some sort of approach to healing. It really is possible to get better – along with your relationships.

There’s an enormous community online looking for the same help you are, and I urge you to explore it. I’ve learned a lot from the blogs I list here. Health Central is a big site that I also write for (this is my page), and it has an active community that’s very responsive to questions and comments.

Let me know if I can help in any way.

John

13. Posted by patientanonymous, May 9th, 2010 at 7:31 am

Oh, dear. I hate it when this happens. I found you via a Referrer in my WP list. I forgot to add you to my Blogroll. Sorries!

*runs to add you to Blogroll*

Take care,
PA

14. Posted by john, May 10th, 2010 at 9:57 pm

Thank you, patientanonymous!

I appreciate you’re adding me. I’m also glad to find your blog.

John

15. Posted by SarahV., May 12th, 2010 at 9:24 am

This is a wonderful site. I have struggled with depression my whole life, from a child. I never sought professional help even when, for a period of 10 years, I became anorexic, got into self-mutilation, and had one failed suicide attempt. I am better now, due to the help of friends and one extraordinary older woman who took me under her wing and talked me out of the woods, one day at a time. I still paper over my depression, never like to talk to anyone about it, feel ashamed of it or feel that I deserve it for some mysterious reason…. But this year, partly due to going to meetings that support families from alcoholic homes, I am beginning to recognize the extent of my problem and to admit: yes, I do have a problem with depression. This has been huge for me. And I’ve started to look online for blogs and found this one. I find it v. comforting. So thank you!

Sarah V.

16. Posted by john, May 15th, 2010 at 10:28 pm

Hi, Sarah -

Thank you – I’m glad you can find some comfort here – though, I must say, it’s often painful to write about all this. I’m so glad you’ve been able to make that breakthrough in admitting the scope of the problem. For a long time, I thought of depression as a limited, minor condition and had no idea how extensively it had shaped my thinking and relationships. It is huge to take that big step so that you can start to understand what the work of recovery really involves.

Please keep reaching out – the online community can be helpful in so many ways.

John

17. Posted by Sporter, May 18th, 2010 at 4:27 am

Hello John,Thank you for this site, I cannot believe how much I relate to many of your articles.I think I may be finalling admitting to myself that I have depression that was initially fuelled by anxiety. I have tried to find every excuse as to why I have felt like I do and had the thoughts I have had and I don’t want to hide any longer. I am so frightened of losing what I have now that I don’t want to face whatever I have to face (I hope this makes sense) but I know that if I don’t I am going to lose it anyway as I pick at my partner and try to find ways that he could change to make me feel better. I think this started when I was 9 and my mother left home. Over the last couple of years anger has been building and memories of my childhood have been returning (I never used to think about it really). I have massive anxieties about my relationship and the fact that I may leave him one day, I am scared that if i let whatever I need to, go then I will change and we will not be the people I thought we were but I know I need to do this for me. Anyway, thanks again for your site.
+1

18. Posted by john, May 22nd, 2010 at 11:00 am

Hi, Sporter -

These are all feelings I’ve lived with, and I’m sorry you have to go through them too. But the fact that you recognize all this is a big step forward. When it’s all just driven behavior, there’s not much you can do. To be able to describe what’s happening, though, means you have a level of detachment and know that it’s an illness working in you, and the real you is separate and capable of feeling better. All the anxiety and obsessive thinking is part of depression, and the fear of change is something everybody goes through. You might think of it this way. You won’t change in a way that would lead to a breakup – after all, where are you headed now?. You’ll still be you but more relaxed – you won’t have to pick at your partner, you won’t be full of anxiety, you’ll recognize depressive thought patterns when they start and you’ll be able to say, no thanks. You’ll be able to separate your partner and other people from your depressed projections and experience them for who they are. But it’s hard to get there on your own – working with a therapist or counselor is a good thing because they can respond objectively from wide experience with depression.

I hope you can get past all that fear and anxiety to make a start at some form of treatment. It takes commitment and a lot of work – trying and failing, perhaps many times if this has been going on since childhood. But it’s your life, so it’s worth every minute. Feel free to keep checking in here if that’s helpful.

John

19. Posted by Identify, June 8th, 2010 at 3:27 pm

I have been posting with the name Identify at the site depression connection, women who married depressed men. (June5, 2010)I will add myself here as all the stories are heplful to my healing as well. I”ve beeen married to someone with depression for 17 years, am seperated now (2nd time)and am learning alot with similar stories. It is difficult for the family who lives with someone with depression.

20. Posted by john, June 10th, 2010 at 9:04 pm

Hi, Identify -

Glad to see you here. I hope you’ll comment often.

John

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