BB logo colorYesterday was my last Beyond Blue post. Since I wasn’t able to publish a concluding post, I thought I would do so here.

Two words are appropriate.

Thank you.

I wanted to be sure to communicate one last message of gratitude for all your support.

My first post published only a couple of months after I was hospitalized for severe and suicidal depression (for the second time in a year). I had been unable to commit any words to paper before then, for six months, and so the idea of writing a regular blog scared the bejeezus out of me. However, some voice inside of me told me it was an important exercise in “paying it forward.”

The invitation came a few weeks after the topic of depression made front-page news in Annapolis with the suicide of Phil Merrill, a renowned publisher, entrepreneur and diplomat in the Washington area. Eleven days later Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan withdrew his candidacy for governor of Maryland because of his struggle with depression. 

Articles cited all the people that had come out as depressives, past and present: Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Kay Redfield Jamison, Archbishop Raymond Roussin, Mike Wallace, William Styron, Art Buchwald, Robin Williams, Patty Duke, and Brooke Shields.

These people crawled out of their comfort zone to help others, and they had a lot more to lose than I did.

Abraham Lincoln wanted people to know that his melancholy was a “misfortune, not a fault,” and that his humor, his jokes, were the “vents of [his] moods and gloom.” British Prime Minster Winston Churchill referred to his deep melancholy as his “black dog.” It was his teacher of perseverance. Kay Redfield Jamison reminded folks that “tumultuousness, if coupled with discipline and a cool mind, is not such a bad sort of thing.” Without Lincoln, Churchill, Jamison, and the others, I’d think I really was going crazy and stand crippled, terrified in my darkness.

They were missionaries of truth about mental illness.

And Beyond Blue was my opportunity to be one too.

This would have been impossible without your kindness, empathy, and thoughtfulness. It’s not easy to be vulnerable in front of people you haven’t shook hands with and for whom you can’t guess their real hair color. But you made it easy. In fact, it felt more natural to disclose intimate details of my life on Beyond Blue than in conversations with many of my relatives.

This isn’t the end of my writing. I have started a blog for Everyday Health called “Sanity Break,” and I’m a regular contributor to Psych Central and to Answers.com as their Depression Expert. I will also be writing one gallery a month for Beliefnet, as well as contributing to other sites. Of course, you can find me here too, where I will link to all of my writing.

I’d like to thank my original editor, Holly Rossi, for helping me to launch Beyond Blue. It was really a partnership and I’ll be forever indebted for all that she invested into the blog.

I’d also like to thank all the editors and staff at Beliefnet—both past and present—for everything they did to help sustain the blog over seven years.

Mostly, I want to thank you, readers, for the gift of your support. You kept me well for seven years, and everything you taught me in those years will keep me on the road of recovery for years to come.

Thank you.

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Therese Borchard
I am a writer and chaplain trying to live a simple life in Annapolis, Maryland.

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15 Responses
    1. Victoria Glose

      I am sorry that I will not see your Beyond Blue Posts, you are a survivor and you reveal to us that mental health is not a moral problem . You have paved the way for many of us to accept the fact that meds work and I am not compromising a healthy lifestyle. God Bless you1

    2. Corria

      ARTICLE: 5 Decisions That Can Bring You More Joy

      QUICK NOTE: Therese, A suggested correction in your article…

      INCORRECT > Here’s three simple ways to shift from feeling that you have to achieve the outside-imposed expectations.

      CORRECT > Here are three simple ways to shift from feeling that you have to achieve the outside-imposed expectations.

      Here are three… ‘are’ refers to plural.

      1. NancyLfromNJ

        Wasn’t there a way to address Therese in private than call her out in public on a grammar issue?? Seriously…the content is so much greater than here’s/ here are

  1. mary bowie

    so happy we are not saying goodbye but rather see you elsewhere! you are a bright light in my dark moments.

  2. Lisa wallace

    Why weren’t you able to publish a final post? Did they treat you badly? I hope not. You are one beautiful, classy, thoughtful, talented beacon to those of us who struggle daily with mental health issues. Thank you so very much.

  3. amyacunningham

    You’re a wonderfully talented writer and thinker, and you have such a huge heart! Thank you so much! –Amy Cunningham

  4. Peg

    Oh, Therese, I feel sad for some reason but you are beginning another chapter in your life and when God closes one door, He opens another, my mother used to say. You will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you for sharing your talent of expressing yourself in such a way that we all listen and “get it”. Peg in Denver

  5. NancyLfromNJ

    Dearest Therese, I remember your early days very well. You’ve come a long way. You are a beautiful, gifted soul. Your honesty, self-deprecating humor, audio visuals (I remember the pumpkins) were a gift that you continue to give your readers. Thank you for sharing all of yourself with us, NancyLfromNJ 🙂

  6. Nancy

    Your writing combines honesty, humor and compassion with great information about mental health. Love your new website – will follow you wherever you write! Thank you, Therese!

  7. Matt Melucci

    Thank you, Therese, for being brave and bold. I’m certain you have helped thousands of people. What a great gift and accomplishment. What a wonderful way to use your own suffering. It all comes around and I’m sure you have seen that. Please stay in touch and please keep writing. matt

  8. Ray in CA

    I’m so glad that I found you on Beyond Blue and can now follow your other writing. Thank you for all you have shared and the support you have given!!