Depression Notes ~ August 28, 2012...

“Stick with people who bring the best out of you. Avoid the mother fuckers that bring you down”

~ Catherine Barkley

 

I believe Chrissie Hynde in the song I’ll Stand By You eloquently captures the emotion, tenderness and compassion one needs when suffering from the illness of depression.

(The Pretenders ~ I'll Stand By You)

Therese J Borchard writes, “Here are 10 things you definitely DON’T want to say, a collection of the gems that I heard when well-intentioned people opened their mouths and said something really stupid to me the two years I was in sorry shape.”

Read all of the ten things here: Beyond Blue

 

Sandals

 

I wear sandals

No boots

 

Or straps

Nothing to pull up

 

No illusions

No mirages

 

Just dirt on my feet

Sand between my toes

 

The raw earth of living

Tasting and feeling

 

Knowing and believing

What I feel is real

 

 

(Photo: Chris Fletcher)

 

Therese J Borchard also writes, “The other day I covered 10 things you should not say to a loved one if you don’t want your name to come up in her therapy sessions. It covered a lot of ground, so I get why some folks would say, “Then what the hell CAN I say?” I’ve been thinking about that, and here’s my list.”

Read all of the ten things here: Beyond Blue

 

(Photo: Chris Fletcher)

 

 

Gil Lamphere writes in a piece for the  John Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science that, “Mental illness is physical, like diabetes. And if these disorders are thought of correctly, as physically caused and physically cured, mental illness will be acknowledged as a problem in brain biology. The stigma will melt away. Incidentally, I find this insight most accepted by people younger than 60, and less so by older men who feel that if you’re depressed, you should ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps.’”

Read the full article here: Put Together Again

“Stanford Professor Robert Sapolsky, posits that depression is the most damaging disease that you can experience. Right now it is the number four cause of disability in the US and it is becoming more common. Sapolsky states that depression is as real of a biological disease as is diabetes.” ~ Stanford University

 

Watch this full lecture by Professor Sapolsky to learn more about the biological origins of depression:

 

 

From CBS News: “How to show you care?

What do you say to someone who's depressed? All too often, it's the wrong thing.

People still have such a cloudy idea of what mental illness is," says Kathleen Brannon, of Herndon, Va. "Sometimes people will say, 'Oh, you're depressed? Yeah, I've been depressed,' and you realize just the way they say it that, nooo, it's not quite the same thing. It's not just that I'm feeling sad or blue."

With the help of our friends at health.com and the Depression Alliance, we've put together a list of helpful things to tell someone battling depression, followed by what not to say.”

 Read here another: 10 Things Not To Say To Someone Who Is Depressed