Category: Living with depression

so …

So I have been feeling super crap. A depressive episode, on top of a lot of change and a surprise meeting, has made life almost unbearable. I spoke with my counsellor yesterday, and that has most certainly helped. (Not least because he offered spiritual advice.) Honestly, I had enough yesterday morning and was ready to pack my bags.

Life is never rosy for me, nor do I expect it to be. I have made huge mistakes in my life. I have hurt, and continue to hurt, people that I love. People are not a “means to an end” – even my own mental health. I am a sinner. Everything in my life reminds me that I cannot do it without Jesus.

I cannot expect other people to change to suit me. I must change. Jesus is present in the moment not to judge but to be chosen. Every moment, “Do you turn to Christ?”.

What is happiness? Any day in which I make it to the end. Solitude comes with great risks, above all, the risk of self-indulgence. Perhaps I am simply selfish and not depressed—someone did once say that to me. Yet, I also recognise that the desert is a place of battle. I have an icon of St John the Baptist that reminds me of the cost.

So what now? Wait! Grrrrr?!?!?! Not easy. Wait for Jesus. And hand it all to him. Be present to Jesus in the now and not the possible future – or the painful past. Allow my pain to connect me to Jesus on the cross. Pray!

Anyway …

Sorry …

… I have been absent. I have struggled with my mental health because there is a lot of stress at the moment. Thank God for TikTok!

In the meantime, I have been reading Kafka and Simone Weil. I feel like a bad stereotype. Spring is here and that makes me feel a little better. My dayroom has been reorganised. Life moves on.

more of less?

What could you do less of?

I think the answer is pretty simple for me – feeling sad. It is still a regular part of my life. Not a part I rejoice in or celebrate. But it is part of me. To be honest, it helps when I have a solid plan for each day. Maybe what I could do less of is define myself by other people and what they expect of me? Or, maybe, I could stop feeling things so deeply?

Yes, I take medication. But the medication is not the answer – it only stops it from bubbling to the surface where it becomes uncontrollable. I have a general feeling of uselessness and being a “third wheel”. I no longer think about ending it. That is a positive!

I cannot change others, I can only change myself. So this is my problem and not someone else’s. I can try to escape into the arms of other people and hope they can fix it. But I have tried that and it was a disaster. I keep saying that everything will become clear but to be honest, I no longer believe that.

Sorry that is a little bit of a downer first thing. It is a positive that I know what my negative is?!

Day 9

I thought I would sit down and write a little before the day gets ahead of me.

It has been a hard start: I could not get the words out for Morning Pray, found no peace during meditation, and was very distracted during the streamed Mass. I have had two days of being with people so maybe it is a “people hangover”?

I was hoping to sit down today with my friends Soren, Julian, and Thomas. (And of course, with my friend Jesus.) But at the moment my mind is racing and my heart is all over the place.

So I am fighting the urge to eat for comfort, or to simply watch TV for the rest of the day. Please pray for me today and especially tomorrow.

Heart of Jesus, have mercy.

Day 5

Yesterday, for the first time this week, I had a face-to-face meeting. The people are nice but I was glad when it was over.

Being alone – solitude – makes me very cranky when I am not. Yet another character flaw. Some yesterday lamented that “being alone” made them depressed. One even mentioned that being alone for an extended period of time made them try to take their own life. I feel for people who live in the darkness without a way out. Yet I wanted to say that being with people is what makes me depressed! I think I am somewhat of a people-pleaser and I feel pressure to act a certain way. I have learned not to act like I think I should but rather to be me.

The realisation is that, for me, the sacrifice is not being alone – solitude – but rather being with people. Maybe I am completely selfish?! I will make the sacrifice for Jesus but I will also value and protect my solitude for Jesus. The natural rhythm of prayer, meditation, and reading gives me a peace that is beyond understanding.

It has taken me over 50 years to come to that conclusion and I know that I have responsibilities. But being alone recharges me!

the goal?

The formula that describes the state of the self when despair is completely rooted out is this: in relating itself to itself and in willing to be itself, the self rests transparently in the power that established it.

Sickness unto Death

I am having a bizarre week emotionally. It started with a bump and bounced around a lot. It is living on the threshold. I admit I have used some of my “emergency medication”. It all feels like Indiana Jones running from the bolder at the start of Raiders. I have an overwhelming sense of doom.

So I have been reading some Kierkegaard – my go-to author in times of trouble. The Sickness unto Death has not been a book I have read a lot. But I was struck, reading it, by the above paragraph. Especially the final phrase, “the self rests transparently in the power that established it”. The balancing act of life is about openly resting in God. I think a case could be made of the religious life being about this “transparency”.

new life?

I have so many things happening in my head that I often find it very hard to put them in order. So I was somewhat confused (and happily amazed) when I read this:

All coming into existence occurs in freedom, not by way of necessity.

Kierkegaard

A “new life” will not come without my choice made in freedom. No one is forcing me, circumstances do not set the agenda. And I think the moment has come for a choice. Without knowing the future and without allowing the past to slow me down. I know all of that but feeling it is a completely different thing.

BTW: the liturgical rites we have (baptism, communion, especially monastic vows) are a free choice for a new life.

quick update

I know I have not written much in the last week or so. Just have not had the energy to think much. I even find reading hard at the moment. So have been trying to do other things – more creative stuff. (I have been researching frumenty – medieval porridge. I really want to try it!)

I have returned to the approach that helped me through my last depressive episode – two goals a day. So today I have done my two goals so I can relax for the rest of the day. I am not really depressed, more stressed by life. I realise that I live in an extremely stressful context at the moment. But knowing and feeling are two completely different things for me.

So I am still here. I still have two meetings today but they will be ok – I hope!

holy monday?

It is Holy Monday and I should have something “holy” to say. But I do not! Whether it is the weather, the season, or simply MDD, I am struggling to function. The total of my engagement in life is sitting and looking out the window. Last year’s Holy Week was a disaster for me with a “resurrection” on Easter Sunday. I remember spending Palm Sunday sitting on the beach crying uncontrollably. Yet I had a deep insight during the sermon on Easter Day about my life. I am not expecting an insight. And the situation is very different this year.

I have been thinking about “change”. There are many talking heads on the TV (which I rarely watch) that proclaim our need for change on this or that issue and how our government needs to facilitate that change. Many groups in the church proclaim a need for change or things will be dire. But real change only happens when the “I” changes. I cannot expect others to change to make things better. Worst of all, I cannot expect others to change to make my life better. I must change! And live as a witness to that change. Jesus brings real change. He brings change to my life and I must live that change.

So there is my not-so-holy insight for today. I will return to looking out the window!