Tag: Depression
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Mental Illness: Why Love and Acceptance Must Be the First Line of Treatment
With love and acceptance – what I believe should be the first-line of treatment for people with mental illness – people like my son feel less isolated, judged and ashamed. Though “tough love” may be the gold standard approach to care for some mental illnesses, it is a risky choice and one that doesn’t necessarily…
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The Meaning Of Life And Why People Who Live In Hot Countries Suffer From Depression As Well
Kurt experienced a few personal setbacks a few weeks ago and because I know that many of you follow this blog because you too have young adults who struggle, I thought I’d take you through what we’ve learned from it. Obviously, I won’t go into precise detail about what happened, but suffice it to say…
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Why I Cried In A Star Is Born
For those of you who know me and my need to spew verbal rubbish at least twice a week as a means of therapy, you might have guessed that my past few weeks of silence has nothing to do with laziness or writers’ block. However, this time, it is not my story to overshare. Instead,…
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Managing Anxiety and Depression: The Trick Is To Find Happiness In The Small Things
After the cabin fever brought on by the Armageddon of a dodgy weather cycle in Sydney over the past 24hrs – totally unrelated to climate change, according to our government – it was a relief to get out of the house this morning. After almost a month of holiday excess, I decided that I would…
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Living One Day At A Time And Being Content With What We Have
A successful designer, seemingly with the world at her feet, takes her own life. Her body is found in her New York apartment with a note that will devastate her family and change the course of her young daughter’s life forever. One thing is certain: she achieved success in the way that the west determines…
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Broken People
Wow! ‘Manchester By The Sea’. It’s unlike me to enthuse about movies on this site. Truth be told, it’s getting much harder to walk away from a movie and feel truly motivated these days, (Hidden Figures is an exception), so exhausted am I by the blatant ageism, objectification and sexism that Hollywood continues to get…
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‘Pretend You’re Good At It’
I’m reading “Furiously Happy” by Jenny Lawson, (aka The Bloggess) at the moment, upon the recommendation of Lana Hirshowitz, and although I initially struggled to decipher the twisting maze of her brain patterns, I’ve since tapped in and have found myself identify with the author’s self-professed craziness and daily struggles with anxiety. The book is…
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Those ‘What’s It All About?’ Moments
I’ve been having a lot of those ‘what’s it all about?’ moments recently. I changed my medication recently so it could be that, or simply a residual post-sickness tiredness that has sapped me of the energy to exercise, socialise and get out of my yoga pants. Then again it’s probably the hormones, the tail end…
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Anxiety, Hope and Earning The Olympic Gold For Worrying
If they handed out an Olympic Gold for worrying, I’d get it. I’ve skirted around the void of depression many times, when my anxiety has gnawed away at me like some flesh-eating bacteria, so close to the bone that I’ve felt like it was all too much. Unlike many people out there who wax lyrical…
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Talking Publicly About Trauma
Anna Spargo Ryan has written a riveting and widely appraised book called The Paper House, and I’m thrilled for her success (if not a bit jelly) because I’ve followed Anna on Twitter for a few years. She is intelligent, witty and an advocate for mental illness awareness and I was particularly keen to read her…
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The Stigma Of Mental Illness and Medication
With World Mental Health Day on the horizon on the 10th October, and R U OK day recently passed, it seems an appropriate time to admit to you that I see a therapist. Shape of heart made of pills Was that a gasp of surprise echoing through the small principality of Midlife Mayhem within the…
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Life’s ‘Colour’ Shouldn’t Cost Anything
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I overthink all the time, particularly these last few days in the light of the death of Robin Williams. #156335514 / gettyimages.com Overthinking is not necessarily a bad thing. It helps us remain accountable for our decisions and to think about whether we are making the most of…
Louisa Simmonds 