February 28, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Get help.

There's a stigma against taking medication for depression. Snap out of it!

Check out THIS great article on overcoming the stigma of taking medication for mental health!

Don't be ashamed of what makes you well.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com  

February 27, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Don't try to stop yourself from feeling sad sometimes. Sad is good. A full range of emotions is healthy. Bereft, melancholy, miserable, grief-stricken – these are all important feelings. Feel them.

Depression is not sadness, it's misery unrelated to your situation, or often a lack of feeling, altogether.

If you feel you're sad all the time, or over a long period of time, or if being sad is interfering with living your life (going to work or school, grocery shopping, paying your bills) – that's when it's time to seek help.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com  

February 26, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Pandemic stress can cause a lot of disruption in your life, including:

Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones, your financial situation or job, or loss of support services you rely on.

Changes in sleep or eating patterns.

Difficulty sleeping or concentrating.

Worsening of chronic health problems.

Worsening of mental health conditions.

Increased use of tobacco, and/or alcohol and other substances.

CLICK HERE for an in-depth look at coping during the pandemic.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 25, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Try not to take ANYTHING personally.

Most of the time – like 99% of the time – it's not about you.

While that itself might seem depressing, instead choose to see it as liberating!

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 24, 2021

 CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Try not to take everything personally.

When friends, family or co-workers cancel plans with you, you could get upset and take it personally. The truth is things often have nothing to do with you.

People get sick, or need family or alone time, or have to work. Whatever. People have their own full lives and – sorry – you probably aren't the focus of them a lot of the time.

Or they may be suffering from depression, as well, and sometimes need to flake out whether they really want to or not.

You're probably quick to assume that the positive stuff isn't about you. So, figure the negative stuff isn't about you, either.

Rumination

I recently had brain surgery, and afterward for several months I could not stop ruminating. The same thoughts kept going through my mind over and over again. That experience tipped me off that rumination is a biological response, as surgery had triggered it. (Thankfully it has passed. I still ruminate sometimes, but not obsessively and constantly like I did before.)

This VIDEO describes rumination and some behavioral techniques to break through it.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 23, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Anxiety and depression are often closely related – kissing cousins, if you will.

Buzzfeed has a helpful list of 17 Things Anxiety Sufferers Need to Remember.

One tip: “Never feel bad for feeling bad.”

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 22, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

The actress Patty Duke was a pioneer and early advocate of depression awareness.

Linked HERE is a wonderful, informative interview with her about her bipolar disorder and how to recognize and overcome manic depression.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 21, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Get help!

Quarantine can create social isolation, and social isolation is a key factor in suicide.

“Feelings of isolation, depression, anxiety, and other emotional or financial stresses are known to raise the risk for suicide. People may be more likely to experience these feelings during a crisis like a pandemic... However, there are ways to protect against suicidal thoughts and behaviors... Support from family and community, or feeling connected, and having access to in-person or virtual counseling or therapy can help... particularly during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.”

If you are in a suicide emergency, call 
1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)
or use the online Lifeline Crisis Chat.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 20, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

More Insight from Therapist Kati Morton

Check out "Ask Kati Anything" on facebook -- today's topic is PTSD and how to work through it.

PTSD isn't just about combat trauma. Any traumatic event -- like a car accident, major storm or evacuation, a loved one's death, abuse or rape -- even and importantly COVID-19. Whether you've had COVID or not, you may have been traumatically effected by it.

Kati's youtube channel is linked HERE. 

Tip of the Day

“AOL Lifestyle Expert and life coach Iyanla Vanzant discusses the experience of being stuck mentally, emotionally and physically, and offers advice on how to get out of your rut.”

With life-affirming, inspirational advice, Iyanla can lift you up!

How to Get Unstuck is one wonderful video.

She put out a daily pandemic anti-viral video through the early COVID-19 crisis, including Living Beyond the Virus.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 19, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Hitting the Pandemic Wall

Here's an excerpt from a resonant article from the website The Shine:

In 2020, "social distancing" creeped into our lexicon—and today, "pandemic wall" is a new go-to phrase for folks looking to explain the fatigue that's set in after a year of navigating COVID-19.

Coined in a now-viral tweet by WNYC radio host Tanzina Vega, “pandemic wall” encompasses the exacerbated depression, anxiety, grief, fatigue, and utter exhaustion directly related to the toll of this pandemic.

“Lots of people - including me - are hitting what I’m calling the pandemic wall this week,” Tanzina wrote. “The burnout from working non stop, no break from news, childcare and isolation is hard.”

While it may not be a medical term yet, the struggle of navigating this time is showing up in data. A new study shows that 1 in 3 adults are anxious or depressed due to COVID-19. And for young adults, the numbers are even more jarring, with the prevlance of anxiety three times as high in 2020 than in 2019 and depression four times as high.

Tip of the Day

Did you take your pills?

It's so easy to forget medication, especially as depression saps your will to do anything, your ability to care about self-care, and your memory.

Daily alarms on your phone, sorting your pills into daily units and putting the pillboxes on your bathroom counter, post-its on the bathroom mirror, phone apps...

Find a way to stay consistent. It's key to monitoring and maximizing the effectiveness of meds.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 18, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

THIS extremely informative slideshow on healthcentral.com answers a lot of questions about bipolar disorder in clear, simple terms:

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder.
Bipolar disorder always includes mania.
Unipolar depression is not bipolar disorder.
Borderline personality disorder is not bipolar disorder.
Narcissistic personality disorder is not bipolar disorder.
Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder, not a mood disorder.
Dissociative identity disorder is not bipolar disorder.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 17, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

When you're depressed you may constantly remind yourself of everything negative you do and everything negative that happens around you. It's a lousy habit, but a persistent one.

It seems only fair, then, to acknowledge the positive things that happen, too.

Make a list.

Did you stick to your diet today? Run errands? Clean out your emails? Spend quality time with family? Do the dishes? Refill your prescriptions? Do your online banking? Take much needed time to do nothing?

Then today was a good day!

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 16, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Quarantine to protect you and your loved ones from COVID-19 is a fact of life for many of us. For those with underlying medical conditions it could be a factor for a long time even as most of society opens up.

If you're quarantined with family, ease the isolation by having meals together at least once or twice a week. If you're kept away from family, use social media and on-line chat sites like Zoom to connect, or game sites like pogo.com to enter game rooms with friends. (HERE is a list of sites to play games with friends on Zoom.)

Take walks and talk to people you meet from a safe distance of 6 feet or more. Many events and celebrations involve drive-through get-togethers or gatherings in parks – at that safe distance.

Humans are social animals, and finding a way to stay social can prevent or ease depression.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 14, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

“Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, suffered from severe and debilitating bouts of depression, which were described by Carl Sandburg in his biographical analysis of his life. Lincoln once wrote in a letter to a friend, 'A tendency to melancholy…let it be observed, is a misfortune not a fault.'”

Have a great President's Day!

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 13, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

We've all heard of post-natal depression, but what about pre-natal?

The biochemical changes of pregnancy can affect mood while a woman is pregnant. (Of course!)

Nutrition, exercise and talk therapy are proven effective treatments.

Get help if you need it!

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 12, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Indecision is a symptom of depression.

And it's not a great idea to make big decisions when you're seeing things through a negative prism.

But sometimes you have to make a decision, even a big one – even if you're depressed.

Ask for advice.

Make a list of pros and cons.

Assess the real financial cost if you make a mistake, and make sure you're able to absorb it.

And be strong. A mistake can be costly, but it can also be corrected.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 11, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

A very interesting study, linked HERE, suggests that just 30 minutes in nature each week lowers your risk of depression and heart disease!

The lowered risk was significant. The amount of time needed in nature was very small. And the study found a connection (not causation) between depression and heart disease.

Read the article and then follow the link to the actual report if you're so inclined.

Oh, and then get outside!

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 10, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

One key aspect of taking care of yourself is managing COVID-19 anxiety. THIS website, from The Mood Disorders Society of Canada, has lots of tips for doing just that, including:

Avoid excessive media consumption.
Stay in touch with family and friends through social media.
Protect yourself (hand washing, social distancing).
Take time to relax (meditating, self-care, exercise).
Help others if you’re able to.
Don’t be afraid to seek help if you need it.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 9, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

If you believe, even God gave Herself a day off every 7 days.

You are not super-human. You're just a human who is super. And that's enough!

Take a day to not be perfect, not be cheerful, not be all about others. Take a day off.

Meditate. Walk. Catch up on your sleep.

Give yourself the day. Regularly. It's good for body and soul.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 8, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Many people experience their first bout with depression as they enter adulthood – go off to college or the military, get their first job, move out of their parents' house, etc.

THIS video addresses that phenomenon, and how to “adult” with depression.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 7, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Get help.

Talk to someone. You don't have to jump in and go to a psychiatrist or therapist. Talk to a doctor, hypnotist, yoga instructor, minister, rabbi, exercise guru... Talk to someone who can help with your general physical, mental or spiritual health.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 6, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

There is so much horrible news that it can truly compound depression. So, focus on the positive news. Frankly, there is more positive news than negative... You just need to know where to look for it.

For instance, gun violence is constantly in our consciousness and we can miss the fact that violent crime has fallen dramatically in the United States over the past several years.

HERE is a wonderful site to shift your focus: Good News Network! And, no, despite its title, it is not religious.

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com 

February 5, 2021

CWD Daily

Tips for Coping with Depression

If you are in a suicide crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 
1-800-273-8255.

Tip of the Day

Getting enough sleep is crucial for beating depression. It's a great goal to work toward.

Try breathing exercises to relax and to get to sleep. The simplest one is to breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 7 counts, breathe out for 8 counts.

HERE are 8 more fantastic techniques!

CWD Daily is written by Julie Aiken, a layperson whose only authority lies in 40 years of coping with depression. Nothing in the newsletter should be taken as medical advice. Please do no self-diagnose or self-prescribe. Above all, please get help if you need it. 

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com