August 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

Depression feels like failure, like weakness, like defeat. It feels like a cop out, an excuse. It feels like a waste of a life that once showed such promise.

None of that is true, but that's how it feels a good bit of the time.

You may work on overcoming your depression, but there's a part of you that feels like a loser because you're not better yet! Of course, it doesn't work that way, unfortunately. Getting better, whether mentally or physically (or spiritually) takes time and it takes practice.

And, yes, that sucks!

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  

August 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

Is your messy environment depressing you?

Working under the assumption that depression is not a lack of happiness but rather a lack of vitality, there may be a little something to that, as a seemingly insurmountable clean-up job is dispiriting.

Straightening up is not impossible, and you could spend just 10 minutes today and make a huge difference.

Plus, a lot of messy people are extremely successful – they simply have housekeepers or children to do their dirty work!

Depression doesn't come from the environment, it comes from your thoughts. Focus on changing your thinking rather than worrying about any other side issue that is a distraction.

Your life isn't a mess just because your house is.

And your house being a mess is just a problem, not a character flaw.

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  

August 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

Meditation may help ease depression.

Quieting the mind and being “mindful” – being present and being aware of your body and how you feel in the environment – would logically seem to be useful on so many levels.

And just disrupting the pattern of negative thoughts might help, as well.

Give it a try. How to Meditate: Simple Meditation for Beginners.

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  

August 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

Get help.

Current and former military service members may face different mental health issues than the general public.

Check HERE for a comprehensive list of resources for service members and veterans, with full contact information.

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  

August 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

“There’s too much poverty and not enough self-love. If you don’t love yourself, you’re in a world of trouble.”

    – Dr. Cornel West

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  

August 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

“When I called myself an idiot, I put a drop of poison into myself. It's the little things, adding up. It sounds silly, I know. That one word, thought up like a sharp banter between trusting friends, might not mean anything – might not seem so bad. I am not my trusting friend. When my brain is in a certain way, I can't trust that what it tells me is a joke. It might be an accusation, a realization, a warning, because depression lies. Because depression lies, my ability to trust, my own self-esteem, isn't like a rock in a storm-tossed sea, it's like a beach, withering and widening with the season.”

    – actor/author Wil Wheaton

A lot of people who are admirable and highly successful struggle with depression. That can help, a bit, sometimes. It may not make you feel better immediately, but it keeps things in perspective and in the long run may make you feel less like a freak.

Read the entire post (quoted partially above) HERE.

Check out Wil's blog HERE.

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  

August 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

Inch by inch...

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  

August 12

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

WHO's tips on looking after your mental health during COVID-19:

Keep informed.
Have a routine.
Minimize newsfeeds.
Social contact is important.
Alcohol and drug use.
Screen time.
Video games.
Social media.
Help others.
Support healthcare workers.

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  

August 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

HERE is a wonderful essay on the apparent link between writers and depression, with insights for anyone who is depressed.

A couple of excerpts:

“Writers suffer from depression for all the usual reasons (innate biochemical susceptibility, early life experiences, etc.) but they also live lives full of contributing factors. Isolation, introspection, lack of physical exercise, irregular hours, less than perfect diet, and lack of exposure to sunlight – all may cause a depression, or worsen one. So also do financial and professional uncertainty – the lack of control of events which writers experience in every aspect of their work. To these, some writers add alcohol or drug addiction (yup, these do contribute to depression)…”

“When you're depressed, everything seems futile – you are sure the book will be lousy even if you do write it. When you're depressed, you have less courage, less resilience, less ability to handle ordinary stressors.”

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