Blogging for Depression, Yours and Mine
One of the first blogs I read about depression, about 20 years ago was called 'Roller Coaster'. It was written by someone who had bipolar disorder, like me. I remember it clearly. It was the middle of the night, and I was in yet another depressive episode, wondering if there was any hope for me so I went 'online' and looked up 'depression blogs'. I wasn't even sure there was such a thing but there it was!
What a comfort to see that I was not the only one with bipolar disorder. It was so affirming to hear someone describe the same symptoms I was experiencing. I felt validated, like I was not imagining the whole thing.
Way back then, there were about 1% of the blogs that there are now. Good blogs about depression were hard to find. And people often made comments. Others responded to those comments. It was helpful and I felt less alone.
Eventually, I decided to write a blog myself. I had always liked writing and wanted to do more, it was a natural transition. I didn't write about depression, I just shared personal stories. And what fun. Creating the website, choosing a design, and thinking up things to write about.
Researching 'how to write a blog' was fun too! It became a great new hobby for me and expressing myself was therapeutic which was a big benefit. And people even commented occasionally so I knew someone was reading it.
My first blog I called 'Wendalyn Loves to Write' (because 'Wendy Loves to Write' was taken and Wendalyn is my given name. I'm not sure when I took that down or why. It probably happened on a bipolar day when I was questioning all of my life choices and felt like quitting everything. That happens a lot to people who struggle with mental illness. They quit things, walk about from relationships and berate themselves over just about everything.
But soon I started to miss it so I created another one. This one I decided would be more focused on depression. I felt that if what I go through could help what others go through then it would be a win-win. I got to write and help at the same time. I wanted to keep it light so I called it 'Dipsy Doodling Around Depression'. (my logo had bumble bees in it) That was fun too but eventually, I let that go. That's what some of us people with depression do, we quit things. Our mood dips and we feel like our entire lives are not worthwhile, and think 'why am I doing this, nobody is reading it anyways' and so that is gone too.
But in no time at all, I missed it, and I decided that it didn't matter if anyone read it, I just liked writing it. I like designing my website, I liked learning how to do all sorts of technical computer stuff, picking out pictures and I just liked writing. So I created one more site 'Depression Getaway with Wendy Love'.
I'd like to say I stuck with it but there have been lots of dips and dives along the way. Originally, I created it on a Wordpress website which you have to pay for but which apparently is more professional. Again I researched 'how to be a successful blogger' and learned a lot.
But eventually, I decided to stop paying for it and create the same blog on this site 'blogger.com' which is free! Gotta love that. I have taken breaks now and then but here I am, back at it. I love writing, I love blogging and if just one person, once a year, gets one little tidbit of encouraging from reading this then that is a bonus.
If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't stop here! There's lots of good stuff I have created over the years. And there's a lot of fun little personal stories as well. Make yourself a cup of your favourite hot drink and stay for awhile.
Don't give up! There's hope for depression. I am living proof of that.
