• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Storied Mind

Recover Life from Depression

  • Home
  • About
    • Commenting Guidelines
    • Contact
  • START HERE
    • Archives
  • Self-Help
    • Recovery Stories
  • Recovery Ebooks
    • Surviving Depression Together
    • A Mind for Life
You are here: Home / Archives for fear

fear

Why Writing Helps Heal Depression – 2

by John Folk-Williams 10 Comments

Writing helps heal depression

As I discussed in this earlier post, writing helps heal the depression that dominated decades of my life. That post reviewed James Pennebaker’s research, as summarized in Opening Up, but said little about how I go about writing to confront the most powerful feelings and maintain the progress I’ve made in recovery. For writing is […]

Filed Under: Anxiety, Recovery, Writing Tagged With: depression, fear

Mindfulness as Self-Help for Anxiety

by John Folk-Williams 4 Comments

There’s nothing like extreme anxiety to make you feel like you’re falling apart. Using a few basics of mindfulness as self-help may be a way to pull yourself back together. The all-embracing anxiety I’m talking about comes close to panic. It’s an explosion of fear that hits everything. Certain situations can set it off, or […]

Filed Under: Anxiety, Mindfulness, Self-Help Tagged With: fear

The Powerful Noise of Panic

by John Folk-Williams 4 Comments

Powerful noise of panic

  Some of the most frightening moments I’ve had during long years of depression were not those of despairing mood or even suicidal thinking. Instead, they were the times of panic when I’d feel yanked into a wind tunnel, no hold on anything, air sucked out of my lungs, my body fired into emptiness. Most […]

Filed Under: Anxiety Tagged With: dissociation, fear, noise, panic

On the Other Side of Fear

by John Folk-Williams 22 Comments

Barbed wire strand

Fear has a way of setting boundaries that can’t be crossed. If you do cross them, you know you’ll pay a price – a pain or terror you can’t endure. The boundary is protection. Inside it, you’re safe. I think of the anxiety I feel when moving through depression as the warning sign. You’re getting […]

Filed Under: Psychotherapy, Self-Help Tagged With: boundaries, cognitive behavioral therapy, depression, fear, memory, OCD

Depressed: When Control Is Out of Control

by John Folk-Williams 13 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

Why I Write Storied Mind

by John Folk-Williams 22 Comments

fluid light cascading through filter

Writing Storied Mind is one of the most important things I do to stay well, but it’s not easy. I struggle with writing and I thrive on it. I need to write and I long to get away from it. I discover what I’m all about by writing, and I get lost and confused in […]

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: attention, awareness, fear, metaphors, therapy

Reconnecting Depressed Partners Despite Fear and Shame

by John Folk-Williams 40 Comments

Tense Couple Talking

Men and women have the same need and longing to connect with each other, but they also have different ways of reacting to stress that can drive them apart. That makes reconnecting depressed partners difficult. Psychotherapist Patricia Love believes that these instinctive coping strategies can trigger the fear and shame that isolate partners from each […]

Filed Under: Depressed Partners Tagged With: connection, fear, feelings, men, shame, women

Depression Therapy: Lonely Talk in a Crowded Room

by John Folk-Williams 13 Comments

Depression Therapy - Lonely Talk in a Crowded Room

Therapy for depression usually meant talking about the world I was seeing, the thoughts I had, the pain I felt, the judgments about me I projected onto others – all me, all the time. Once, I was talking to a therapist in that way when I sensed a crowd of people filling the room. The […]

Filed Under: Reconnecting, Recovery Tagged With: connecting, depression, fear, feelings

Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Sign Up for Email Delivery

Get updates and blog posts by email.

Recovery Ebook Available

A Mind for Life: From Depression to Living Well


Recovery from Depression Ebook

The inner work of getting your life back from depression.


LEARN MORE or


Buy Now Button


Relationships Ebook

Surviving Depression Together


Surviving Depression Together

"John, this is a ... much needed resource. Thanks for writing it!"

- Therese Borchard, author of Beyond Blue


Click here to learn more...

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.

Recent Posts

  • Notebook: Healing the Whole Person
  • Why Writing Helps Heal Depression – 2
  • Why Writing Can Help Heal Depression – 1
  • Re-Reading the Story of Depression’s Meaning
  • Depersonalized, Derealized, Dissociative and Disappearing

Search Storied Mind

Categories

Recent Comments

  • Em on When Depressed Partners Blame and Leave
  • Lou on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?
  • Teamwork on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?
  • Ms-unfit on Depressed: No Friends, No Life
  • Ms-unfit on Depressed: No Friends, No Life
  • Karin on About
  • Lost on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?
  • Tea on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?

Privacy and Cookie Policy

Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy

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: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2022 · Dynamik-Gen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in