“I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders,” says a Jewish proverb. A member of my online depression group, Project Beyond Blue, posted it today. I asked them for ways they cope with the limitations of depression because I needed inspiration. My kids have had maybe eight full days of school since...

Last time I wrote a blog like this, I was called a “whiny, white woman,” but I’m not going to let that stop me from spouting off again. Having just seen the movie, “Unbroken,” I really feel like I can’t complain. I don’t have some bastard tormenting every day for giggles in a POW camp....

“When you’re emerging from a depressive episode, how do you know when to push yourself—in terms of commitments and challenges—and when to be gentle with yourself?” someone asked recently on my depression community, Project Beyond Blue. That’s one of the toughest questions people who have repeated depressive episodes face. Because no matter what they choose,...

“You,” he said, “are a terribly real thing in a terribly false world, and that, I believe, is why you are in so much pain.” That quote comes from Emilie Autumn’s psychological thriller novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. I used it a few months ago in a post to describe Robin Williams and why, I think,...

I wrote the following letter as a response to a conversation with a friend I have known since college. She wondered why I used the term “death thoughts” in my writing. But I wanted to publish it for all of the people closest to me, who have never seen me wail from the hollow place...