Sunday, Rainy Sunday

When you live in Florida, you get used to the sunshine. After all, this is the "Sunshine State." Thus, when we have prolonged rain, it starts to feel ... different. I notice more depression in the people in my life during these rainy days. A person who is chronically depressed (like myself and some other folks I love) find the cloudy outside mirroring and reinforcing the sad internal feelings.

I have learned some coping tools that I would like to share today. First, regardless of the rain, an excellent tool to combat depression is to state out loud or write down the things we are grateful for in our lives. For example, I am grateful that my cats are happy and in good health. I am grateful that my nuclear family is healthy. I am grateful for the roof over my head and the food available to me. I am grateful for this computer and the ability to connect to the Internet. I find if I make myself recognize the things I have in my life that make my life GOOD, it helps defeat the negative feelings that can be pervasive and painful. This action also reinforces the truth that I have some control in my life. Often when we are depressed, we feel hopeless and helpless. By choosing an action, I am no longer helpless. After completing the action, often I no longer feel hopeless.

Please understand that I do not advocate that this one coping tool is either a fix-all or will work for everyone. It is a tool I have found that works for ME.

Another tool I have discovered that works for me is to simply attempt for 60 seconds to be "in the moment" while doing an activity I normally would enjoy. I literally use a watch to time my 60 seconds (and it is a LOT longer that we always think a minute is) and pet one of my cats, feeling the texture of the fur and the rumbling of the purr. I truly hear the purr, or sometimes hear snoring. These 60 seconds bring me joy that would otherwise pass me by. I also attempt to truly listen to music. I play a song (usually "Everyday Good" by Patrice - check it out on YouTube!) and do nothing but listen, making my body still and focusing on the lyrics. I've also found in my work trying to help others with depression that listening to an instrumental song can help calm the mind as well as lift (to some degree) depression. A song I would recommend is "My Wife with Champagne Shoulders" by Mark Isham (I found this song on Pure Moods Vol. I, and you can listen on YouTube).

The only thing that does not ever help depression is doing nothing. If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, ask for help or simply talk to someone and say that you don't feel like yourself and want to feel better. More often than not, people with whom we share our sadness not only understand, but truly want to help. Virtually everyone at some point experiences some depression at some point in his/her life. It is a universal that all can understand and most will attempt to help. Allowing ourselves to receive help removes one of the powerful elements of depression, that feeling of being alone.

I know that depression is a serious medical and mental health problem. It is not a problem that can be cured overnight or by simply reading a blog post. However, there has to be a start somewhere and I offer hope to those who feel hopeless. I have experienced this "cancer of the soul." I have been in the dark, feeling alone, abandoned, useless and empty. With the help of family, friends and my doctors, I have emerged from the darkness. If I can be anything to anyone in the dark, I would like to be a candle, lighting the way out of the lonely darkness that can be completely consuming.

A final note, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) offers free courses for anyone who suffers from any mental health related illness. These classes are taught by "peers." Peers are trained educators who also have and live with mental illness. There are also free classes for family members of those who are mentally ill. Both courses strive not only to educate, but to provide tools to help survive the challenges and difficulties of mental illness.

On this rainy Sunday, Bad Kitty would like to wish you sunshine and your very own "catnip" patch in which you can feel happy and at peace.