TO WRITE: Coming Out the Other Side
Thank you to all the kind souls who offered sympathy and solace in response to my recent "What a Disappointment" posting. Today's news: It's getting better.
We're still waiting for a new adoption assignment, which could anytime. I'm still a bit sad and fatigued from it all. But -- I am not having a depression. Hurray! My fears that this situational depression would trigger a severe neurochemical one that would take me to a hell hard to escape from have not materialized. And now even the situational depression is gradually healing, and I'm slowly finding myself able to look forward more easily.
A very wise person pointed out that I may need to pay special attention to doing physical, sensory activities during this time, and that has paid off. Rather than letting myself stare into space or sleep too much, I've been pushing myself to journal about the situation, to read for pure pleasure, to shop, to prepare simple meals, to talk to friends. It's grounding.
Play with this. . .
Write continuously for 20 minutes on what "grounding" activities could help you through your next difficult period. Could you exercise or just walk, paint or take photos, visit a bookstore or cafe, go to a museum? And what about writing? Research indicates that writing about a tough situation can help us organize it in our mind, get it out emotionally, and even change our behavior -- and can boost immune system function. Why wouldn't you include it in your box of healing tricks? Let me know what works for you.
About Me
- Elizabeth Maynard Schaefer, Ph.D.
- My book, WRITING THROUGH THE DARKNESS: EASING YOUR DEPRESSION WITH PAPER AND PEN, was published by Celestial Arts in June 2008. I've been a science journalist, textbook editor and author, poet, memoirist, creative writing instructor and -- sometimes -- a bipolar depressed person, since earning my Ph.D. in biology at Stanford University in 1991. For the past ten years, I've combined my interests in writing and mental health by teaching creative writing to other people with mood disorders in a class meeting at Stanford's Psychiatry Department. I speak on mental health topics, both personal and professional, to a wide variety of groups.
1 comment:
Elizabeth, I have literally never known a period of my life in which I wasn't depressed. Trauma happened to me around age 4 or 5 so I can't recall ever not feeling down. It's so serious I think I'm addicted to it now, that my neural pathways won't allow me to think any other way. I'm finally getting help at age 42. I wish I hadn't waited so long, but it does no good second guessing yourself. The exercises you recommend on your blog are all just so wonderful. Thanks for these. I'm going to try many of them.
Lisa Guidarini
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