Welcome to Depression Recovery

Welcome to the Depression Recovery blog! If you suffer with depression or love someone who does, you have come to the right place for encouragement and practical help. I am not a health professional, but I know the darkness of major depression and the crippling effects of anxiety and OCD that often accompany it. Living with depression, I masked my way through daily life, waking each morning feeling as though someone had died and then realizing....it was me. Perhaps you agree that a fitting definition of major depression is death without the benefit of being unconscious. If that sounds a little dramatic, then that's good. If it sounds painfully accurate, then you've come to the right place, because I also know what recovery is! Take heart, friend. I invite you to read my blog from the beginning post and onward as I have logged my progress (and lack of it sometimes), and have not only spotted the light at the end of the tunnel, but have emerged into its presence!

I invite you to email me at
simmonsmg@wildblue.net if you have questions or comments as you read.

Starting Your Journey

Begin your journey to depression recovery by starting from the first post. ~ To read it, click here.

You may also click here to read all the posts for 2009, then continue in reading the archives for 2010. Please remember to start with the last post and work your way backwards to the most current post. Thank you!


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Monday, April 20, 2009

Depression Recovery: Day One

Actually, there have been many Days One. Many attempts at willing myself well. Snapping out of it. Putting mind over matter. And all of those attempts were genuine and fueled by a belief in the power of positive thinking, which does exist and should be exercised, and in fact, did help. For a while. The problem is that for the depressed person, all the will in the world can't make a sick brain well. Wow, I said it! And I said it in front of....the whole world?? It's okay, though, because I realize now that a sick brain doesn't make a person any more crazy than a sick stomach. It does, however, mean that it needs fixed. And while I know that my own will is key in my success, I acknowledge that it is only the starting point and not the finish line. My will is not the cure, but my permission to be cured.

I have just completed reading Dr. Neil Nedley's book called Depression: The Way Out. Dr. Nedley claims (with documented success) that depression can be cured, not just treated. He does prescribe medications for his patients when needed, but the ultimate goal is to be free of depression, anxiety, and medicine. I'm there! Well, at the starting point, that is. The approach involves nutrition, lifestyle, spirituality, exercise, and other very "real" approaches. So, I've established this blog in order to stick with the program and be accountable to someone "out there" even if it is only myself reading my own posts. I do welcome, however, anyone's comments.