CWD Daily: July 2021

July 31, 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 doctor came to set and talked to me for about 30 minutes or 45 minutes and said: 'Jared, I think you’re clinically depressed. I think I should write you a note – we can shut down production for five days and then we can take it from there.' And it kind of hit me like a sack of bricks. I mean, I was 25 years old. I had my own TV show. I had dogs that I loved and tons of friends and I was getting adoration from fans and I was happy with my work, but I couldn’t figure out what it was; it doesn’t always make sense is my point. It’s not just people who can’t find a job, or can’t fit in in society that struggle with depression sometimes.”

That's Jared Padalecki talking, one of the two stars of the mega-hit TV show Supernatural.

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

July 30, 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 short – short is the operative word, here – nap can refresh you and reboot your brain, especially if you're obsessing about negatives. A half-hour or less is best.

Sleeping too much is not helpful, but short naps every day or so really can work wonders. Give it a try!

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 29, 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

“You know that feeling when you have just gone through a breakup, or lost your job, and everything is terrible and terrifying and you don’t know what to do, and you find yourself crying in a pile on your bedroom floor, barely able to remember how to use the phone, desperately looking for some sign of God in old letters, or your Facebook newsfeed or on Glee, finding nothing there to comfort you?

“Come on, yes you do. We all do.

“And there is a goddess from Hindu mythology that teaches us that, in this moment, in this pile on the floor, you are more powerful than you’ve ever been.”

HERE is a completely different take on depression.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

“When I was depressed, it felt like I was walking through mud all the time. My head was filled with thoughts like, ‘If my friends knew who I really was, they wouldn’t love me.’ And, ‘What right do I have to exist?’ And, eventually, ‘Why do any of us have the right to exist?’ If people were being kind to me, I wasn’t able to access that kindness. It wouldn’t produce a feeling in me. If a child smiled at me from a stroller, it might lift me up for a millisecond, but then I’d fall back into darkness. Before I was depressed, I could find joy in things so easily. I worked as a gardener, and I learned the calls of the birds so I could tell where they were just by listening. I loved to show new plants and insects to children, and see how excited they’d get. I made a 50th birthday card for my sister, and got strangers from all over the world to write ‘Happy Birthday’ in their language. But during my depression, I couldn’t access any of that joy. I’d try reminding myself that other people had bigger problems. I’d try telling myself to quit being weak, and to snap out of it. But nothing worked.”

– Facebook – Humans of New York

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Just for today, don't worry about being depressed!

Just be. Enjoy your coffee. Take a walk. Call a friend or loved one and chat. Take a nap. Watch Netflix.

The struggle can be exhausting, which ironically may contribute to your depression.

So once in a while just feel whatever you're feeling, and be.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Get help: Medication

THIS short video presentation from WebMD highlights how antidepressants work, types of antidepressants, and common side effects.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Here are a few indicators that you may be coming out the other side of the long tunnel of depression:

You have been able to get some things done and make progress on goals.
You have been sleeping less.
You have been sleeping through the night.
You have been engaging with others more and enjoying it more/resenting it less when you do.
You have been telling people about your plans, even if they're a bit fantastic, even knowing people might not approve or even believe you can accomplish them.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

19 Great Quotes About Depression

“If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather. Try to understand the blackness, lethargy, hopelessness, and loneliness they’re going through. Be there for them when they come through the other side. It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do.”

– Stephen Fry, actor, comedian and writer

“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a head cold – with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.”

– Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Is it a breakdown or a breakthrough?

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Wind in the Trees – from Calm.com. Listen and relax.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Everybody screws up. A lot. Depressed people tend to focus on their mistakes and setbacks. The key is to shift your focus.

You are not a piece of crap! You really aren't. No matter how you feel. You're a human being worthy of loving yourself.

You just had a bad day. Or maybe a bunch of them in a long row. But you can turn it around. You will.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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.

Tip of the Day

“In his memoir, astronaut Buzz Aldrin described his battle with alcohol abuse and depression. After returning from his mission to the moon, Aldrin felt a loss of purpose and structure in his life. He divorced his wife and withdrew from society. Aldrin says he used alcohol to numb his feelings. After getting treatment for alcoholism and depression, Aldrin served as the chairman of the National Association of Mental Health.”

Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon with Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969.

There is NOTHING you cannot do, even conquer depression.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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.

Tip of the Day

Get help.

Depression is not a weakness; it's a fact of life for some people. Some people are relentlessly cheerful, some are musically inclined, some athletic, and some prone to mood disorders and mental illness. If they are prone to allergies that’s not a weakness, so don't consider depression one, either!

Depression may be something you can effectively deal with on your own, but there is help available.

If you need help, seek it. When you are depressed finding help seems like an insurmountable problem. So talk to your medical doctor and a trusted friend or family member to get help finding help.

There IS help out there for you. Even if you think there is not. And you CAN find it.

Don't keep going it alone!

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

We all know the stereotype that creative genius comes married with mental illness. Suffering for your art, or something like that.

What if we turned that upside down – used creative expression as a treatment for depression?

Doing something creative – writing a haiku, gardening, painting, etc. – can move you. Get you moving. Lift you out of the doldrums.

So try it! Be creative! Write a story or paint the living room. Whip up a brand new recipe. Create something and see if it shifts your focus and your mood.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Do you remember your favorite book when you were a child?

Find it at the library or purchase it and read it again. Bring back the feelings you had when anything was possible and the future looked bright.

Because it’s still bright. It really is, but believing that is tough sometimes. Believe again!

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

HERE is an uplifting and relaxing webcam of grizzly bears, at Brooks Falls in Alaska. This is outstanding before bed after a stressful day!

The bears are active through the autumn, so give it a whirl!

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 15, 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

In case you missed the memo, coloring is now for adults. It's a great way to spark creativity and to calm anxiety. It really can make you feel better, or at least shift your frame of mind.

Mandalas, landscapes, cartoons... Color whatever you feel like coloring, in a book or freehand.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Find your clan – or make it – online.

It's not pathetic; it's very real community. There are tons of folks out there that can relate to your unique self. Really, there are! People who share your interests and passions and who relate to your struggles. As one of the women I'm virtual friends with through YouTube says, “Be brave.”

HERE is a great video by a woman who has taken extreme anxiety and triumphed in spite of it. And I mean triumphed! Known as grav3yardgirl, she has over 8 million followers on YouTube!!!

She is open and honest about her incredible depression and social anxiety, but mostly her channel is not about that – it's about random make-up and fashion and silly stuff. She has created a “family” – a virtual family that interacts and supports each other and argues. Like a family.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Blah, blah, blah.

Sometimes every word I write here seems like drivel. Stupid, inane crap.

Sometimes no one can say anything “helpful” that doesn't sound like a load of dung.

That's depression. Nice words don't cure depression.

You are the only one who can turn it around, and it isn't easy. It's ridiculously difficult. Good thing tomorrow's a fresh opportunity and all that.

Hang on. Get help if you can. And hang on.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

Get help.

Debt, lack of money, underemployment – all chip away at our sense of self-worth, making the struggle against depression that much more difficult. You may feel like a piece of crap when you have no money and believe you have no prospects.

The bottom line is when you're depressed you are not thinking clearly. Everything is colored by your depression. Including your finances.

It's exhausting!

For free financial counseling, check out Financial Help for the Rest of Us.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

“Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them… Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you.”

This is a description of creatures in the Harry Potter books. The creator of this marvelous universe, J.K. Rowling, herself, has suffered from severe depression and admits that to an extent Dementors represent depression.

To drive off Dementors, picture your “Patronus,” the creature that is your protector, a representation of a courageous and tough self that embodies strength or joy or hope to you. (A wolf, a dog, a unicorn, a bird, a bull, a lion...)

Stand tall. Point your wand or the palm of your hand at the Dementors, focus as strongly as you can on a happy memory, and shout “Expecto Patronum!” Your Patronus then launches itself at the Dementors and they disappear.

Give it a try.

HERE J.K. Rowling discusses Depression and Failure.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

July 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

“You gotta' take care of what you've gotta' take care of. But sometimes you just have to let it go.”

A weekly anti-depressant! Dr. Ivy is so much fun and truly inspirational!

HERE is a video from August, 2020. (This is on Facebook, so you may have to sign into your account to watch it. She also has a Y o uT ube c hannel.)

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com

Get Help!

Here are 7 resources with toll-free phone or text numbers for emergency help:

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (English & Spanish) - 988
Lifeline Crisis Chat: https://988lifeline.org/chat/

Crisis Text Line – US and Canada: text “HOME” to 741741
UK: text “HOME” to 85258 – Ireland: text “HOME” to 50808

The Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/
Crisis/Suicide Intervention for LGBTQ youth under 25, 1-866-488-7386.
Free, confidential, secure – text START to 678-678.

National Domestic Violence Helpline:
1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788 – TTY – 1-800-787-3224
Chat in Spanish from the website: https://espanol.thehotline.org/

Military OneSource – Help for U.S. Military Personnel
Call and talk anytime, 24/7, in Spanish & English – 1-800-342-9647.
TTY/TDD – Dial 711 and give the toll free number 800-342-9647
Live Chat – https://livechat.militaryonesourceconnect.org/chat/

The International Association for Suicide Prevention can link you to hotlines and other resources outside of the USA: https://www.iasp.info/resources/

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Helpline:
1-800-662-4357 or TTY: 1-800-487-4889
Confidential, free, 24/365 information service, in English and Spanish

July 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

Inflammation keeps getting press as a cause of depression.

“The causes of chronic inflammation can vary person to person, but include being overweight, experiencing lots of stress and even breathing polluted air,” Women's Health reported.

Lifestyle choices, like smoking or lack of exercise, also play a role. “Sedentary lifestyle, lack of sleep – we have these repetitive insults that increase longer-term inflammation,” says Jessica Black, M.D., author of The Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Recipe Book.

What foods should you avoid to minimize inflammation?

Transfats
Sugar
White Bread
Milk
MSG
Gluten
Alcohol (more than 1 glass a day)
Omega-6 Fatty Acids (with too few Omega-3's)

So, basically, a common sense mostly vegetarian diet with limited dairy, meat and fish – largely a Mediterranean style diet – is probably the best anti-depression diet.

Contact: witchhazel2020@gmail.com