As you may have figured out by now, I’ve had a hard time launching Recover Life from Depression, but I’ve finally opened it up. “Unlocking” seems like a better word since I’ve struggled for months to break through a hard resistance to getting it done. I was slow to grasp what was going on, but […]
Do You Tell Your Therapist the Whole Truth or … Anything But the Truth?
I don’t know how open and honest you may be with the therapist(s) you’ve seen, but I’ve often had a lot of problems. Last year I wrote here about one constraint that often held me back – the fear of expressing strong emotions. A few days ago, I realized, when answering a question at Health […]
Reynolds Price: Overcoming Pain with Hypnosis and Biofeedback
When I think of recovery from a terrible illness, I think of Reynolds Price. His beautiful memoir, A Whole New Life, records the powerful experience of his mental and spiritual healing from the excruciating pain of a crippling illness. Though his success in overcoming debilitating pain may seem far removed from the problems of depression, […]
Reading as a Form of Depression Therapy
Have you ever heard of bibliotherapy? I’m always trying to identify ways to start working on recovery from depression, but I never thought much about one of the first steps I took – reading. I was surprised to learn that reading books for medical treatment dates to World War II, when it proved effective for […]
Writing to Heal – 1
Writing about depression can be an important self-healing technique, and you don’t have to have great ambitions about being a writer to benefit from it. As a form of therapy, keeping journals and diaries has been popular for years.
But there are pitfalls in this approach, and it’s important to know what they are and why they prevent writing from helping with recovery.
The psychologist James Pennebaker has come up with useful explanations about why this approach can work and how it can go wrong.
Can You Accept Support When You’re Depressed?
There are two sides to the problem of finding support from friends and loved ones when in the midst of depression. I discussed the risk of encountering prejudice and stigma in this post, but what happens if someone tries to offer support during a severe episode? Can you accept and appreciate it? Can you even […]