Notice the word “like.” I’m not going to be so bold as to introduce eight steps that will have you love yourself. Baby steps, right? For some, self-love is a no-brainer. They grew up in homes where LOVE was the predominant four-letter word. Some possess too much, and like Vanity Smurf, are most comfortable with...
Renown psychiatrist Peter Kramer once said that the opposite of depression isn’t happiness. It’s resilience, the ability to bounce back from tragedy, to regain a healthy sense of perspective after traumatic or stressful experiences. In my recovery from depression and anxiety, it is calm— more than excitement or joy or contentment–that I seek. I want...
I do hereby confess that I exhibit symptoms of compulsive hoarding, especially when it comes to books, magazines, newspapers, or other tangible, often recyclable sources of information. I never know when I will need that reference book that I haven’t touched in 18 years, and I experience substantial anxiety whenever my husband attempts to throw...
A friend told me the other day to stop overthinking. “Bah ha ha ha!” That’s like telling the pope not to get on his knees, my daughter to stop craving sweets, or a teenage boy not to think about sex. I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who didn’t need a second longer...
A good friend of mine describes her depression as an elevator that takes her down to an unfurnished basement with toxic mold, the stench of cat urine, and no windows. When she is there, she has difficulty believing that there are any floors above her. What she sees and smells, she surmises, is the sum...
