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You are here: Home / Archives for Depression Symptoms

Depression Symptoms

Depersonalized, Derealized, Dissociative and Disappearing

by John Folk-Williams 22 Comments

dissociative disappearing

I had a comment on a post at Health Central that described an experience the writer called dissociative. During a therapy session she had become so remote that she couldn’t focus on the discussion or even remember in mid-sentence what she’d been saying. She wasn’t fully present and couldn’t bring herself to come back into […]

Filed Under: Depression Symptoms Tagged With: connection, dissociation, family, feelings, intimacy

Depression Is a Free Fall in Slow Motion

by John Folk-Williams 14 Comments

Once my kids pulled me with them up to a water slide. I don’t like sliding through winding tubes and hadn’t done it before. But I couldn’t back out of it once I was standing in a dense line at the top of a 50-foot high platform. Nowhere to go but down. So off I […]

Filed Under: Depression Symptoms, Isolation Tagged With: depression, survival, trust

Depressed: When Control Is Out of Control

by John Folk-Williams 14 Comments

Depression when control is out of control

Why I try to understand depression, I find too few words with too many meanings. This isn’t quibbling over semantics. It’s about what you feel when living with depression and what you feel when you can finally live without it. It’s about the experience behind the words. Take the word, control. To control and to […]

Filed Under: Anger, Depression Symptoms, Isolation Tagged With: Anger, awareness, fear

The Quiet Crisis of Chronic Depression

by John Folk-Williams 18 Comments

Andrea Mantegna Presentation at the Temple (Detail)

Chronic depression, also known as dysthymia, is supposed to be a milder but longer lasting form of the illness than the more episodic and severe variety known as major depressive disorder. Yet I have come to believe that no form of diagnosable depression should be called “mild.” My concern is not about the accuracy of […]

Filed Under: Depression Symptoms Tagged With: awareness, diagnosis, identity

How Setting Boundaries Helped Me Heal

by John Folk-Williams 17 Comments

snow shadows

My getting depressed after a cancer operation almost ended our marriage. It was the blow that forced my wife to remind me of the boundaries I couldn’t afford to ignore. I had been in high spirits for the operation and right through the recovery period. My wife and I had been especially close during that […]

Filed Under: Depression Symptoms, Relationship Tagged With: boundaries, connection, fear, self, shame

The Delusions of Depression

by John Folk-Williams 23 Comments

I’ve had several moments in recovery when I realized that things I assumed to be true were really delusions of depression. Some were long-held beliefs about myself, others were briefly held convictions that were too far from reality to maintain for long. Psychiatrists probably wouldn’t call these delusions of the sort linked to psychosis, but […]

Filed Under: Depression Symptoms, Healing Tagged With: belief, blame, delusion, panic, self

What Do You See in the Mirror When You’re Depressed?

by John Folk-Williams 12 Comments

It’s hard to look in a mirror when you know you will your lost self in depression. Quite a while back, there was a TV series about a group of nurses in the Vietnam War called China Beach. In one episode of this powerful drama, a soldier who had lost a leg from the knee […]

Filed Under: Depression Symptoms, Recovery, Self-Esteem Tagged With: belief, depression, shame

My Top 5 Movies on Depression

by John Folk-Williams 29 Comments

Gwyneth Paltrow as Sylvia Plath

Movies about the realities of depression aren’t usually popular or profitable. As a result, there aren’t many that probe the condition deeply and honestly. The five films in this post are the best I’ve seen for the realism and dramatic power of their stories and the excellence of acting and production. There are many more […]

Filed Under: Depression Symptoms, Resource Tagged With: depression, movies, relationships, suicide

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Living Depressed

Depression affects emotions, mental abilities, self-concept, behavior, relationships and the entire body. These core posts describe the full range of symptoms affecting daily life. Read More.

Choices in Healing

Hoping for recovery gives you a motive but 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've learned how to manage your depression, you'll want 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

Relationships in Crisis

One of the hardest challenges of living with depression is holding onto your closest relationships. This section features posts on how to help a relationship survive. Read More.

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