Mental Health

Mental health. I never really paid much attention to mine. I tripped along through life, living through the moments, planning, procrastinating, working and playing. I had suffered through mild bouts of depression, one beginning in 1990 and the other beginning in 2001. Both bouts lasted about 2 years.

Then on April 22nd, I was hospitalized as a result of a year long battle with a deep depression. This depression was deeper and darker than anything I have ever experienced. My plan for writing this is really quite simple. Over the torturous year of struggling, I felt terribly alone. It wasn't until I was hospitalized that I heard other people expressing feelings that were similar to mine. My thoughts, my fears, my lack of self worth, my hopelessness, my pain and my belief that suicide would be the ultimate answer to curing the deep flaws within me.

I hope over the next year to provide a space to review my descent into depression, my recovery process and my rise toward a hope filled life. My goal is to provide a voice that others may see and in turn feel less alone. I will provide links to other sites I have found helpful and provide coping skills that have worked for me.

I also hope this exercise will help me. As my dear new friend Laureen explained, "It is time to take good care of me".