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.

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 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.

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 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!

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 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.

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 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!

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 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!

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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