Depression Getaway with Wendy Love

Happy New Year! Or is it happy for you? It's easy to forget that you have improved in handling your illness unless you journal now and then. Or possibly, like me you have a friend, in my case my husband, who you are accountable to. Often, when I am having a bad day and feeling sorry for myself and imagining that I haven't progressed at all in handling this illness my husband will say "you are so much better now on a bad day than you used to be."

Do you remember when you first realized you had some symptoms of depression? Did the word 'bipolar' even come to mind? Here was my initial experience.  I was going through a stressful time in my life (divorce), but coping, or so I thought. One of the ways I dealt with stress was through exercise, especially walking. One day, while on my walk, I felt like I could not walk as fast as usual. This continued for a week or so. The only other time I remembered feeling that awful was when I had anemia. So, assuming that it was the same thing this time, I went to my doctor.

Have you already guessed what we can learn from Hansel and Gretel? 1.They left a trail of breadcrumbs, leaving a clue for anyone who might be able to help them. 2.They knew they needed help and hoped that someone would find their breadcrumbs and follow the path.

Gardening compared to journaling? Well, that works for me since I love to do both. But for some of you both a garden or a journal may seem overwhelming. I remember my first few attempts at a vegetable garden. I had no clue and didn't realize I was planting in hard clay!  My second garden was better, the soil was excellent and I grew some great stuff, but I not only had not realized how much work there was but also didn't face the fact that I just didn't have the time to do it. There were more weeds than produce.  By the time I attempted my third vegetable garden, I had done a lot of reading, I had more time and went into it informed and ready. It was beautiful to look at, a joy to work in and I took a lot of wonderful vegetables out of it. 

NCIS is one of my favourite TV shows, and apparently the most-watched tv show around the world. I enjoy the characters. The plots are about murder, yes, but they seldom show gorry stuff. Humour is added into a serious topic. This show doesn't disturb my sensitive nature or bring me down in any way. It is one of my favourite Depression Getaways. Of course,  NCIS   stands for   Naval Criminal Investigative Service   but I have taken a few liberties and made an acronym just for us.

My doctor had a gift for detective work and I am glad she did. She actually reminded me of 'Jessica Fletcher' the famous detective from 'Murder She Wrote'. When she first began treating me, she would start me on a small dose of the medication and then continue to increase it to the ' recommended therapeutic dose’ .  Sometimes I would start to get better but when she increased me to the 'recommended dosage' I would get worse. Puzzled by this, she took my chart, reread all of her notes (she had great notes), and noticed that I always did better on a smaller dosage than the one recommended. If she didn’t have good notes, she would not have been able to figure that out. So, what do journaling and getting the right diagnosis have to do with each other?

"Getting the right diagnosis never entered my mind. I just wanted to stop feeling this awful." Do you remember thinking that way? Do you remember when you first realized you had some symptoms of depression?   Here was my initial experience.    I was going through a stressful time in my life (divorce) but coping, or so I thought. One of the ways I dealt with stress was through exercise, particularly, walking. One day, while on my one hour walk, I felt like I could not go at my usual pace. The only other time I remembered feeling that awful was when I had anemia. So, assuming that it was the same thing this time, I went to my doctor.   She already knew that I was going through a rough time and so a little depression was to be expected. She agreed to have my blood checked but it turned out to be fine. As she prescribed an antidepressant my doctor explained that sometimes this sort of 'circumstance related depression' was tempora...

Scrapbook while you journal? It may be a little less intimidating for some of you than writing a journal. 'Cutting out feelings' - doesn't that sound like fun? Scrapbooking joined with journaling can be more fun than you can imagine! Even a scrapbook that has nothing to do with depression can be fun therapy for you. We have been chatting about journaling and the benefits for depression. I have cited several articles on the subject. For those of you who enjoy research, an even more in-depth scientific article called ‘Emotional and Physical Health Benefits of Expressive Writing’. But for those of you who are tired of the serious aspects of this subject and wish it could be made to sound like a bit more fun, I will refer you to my sister’s blog . She has a creative way of journaling which just might make it more appealing for some of you! She combines scrapbooking with journaling.

Did you ever keep a diary? Like many young girls, I did. What a special treat to spend time alone with my thoughts and my diary. For a few precious moments I was in a safe place, able to express myself without being corrected, challenged, embarrassed, or exposed.  "Journaling therapy"  was already working for me and I didn't even know what it was! "Cheaper than therapy" is a term that people use, often jokingly. I grew up in the sixties when it cost a lot of extra money to talk long distance on your phone. In my family, we used to make the excuse about indulging in long-distance phone calls that it was "cheaper than therapy" . And it was!