COVID hit many of us really hard.  We’ve lived through the past 4 years – sometimes hanging on by the skin of our teeth to do so. For those of us who live with depression, we spiraled down a lot. And for many, even now, with pandemic restrictions lifted, it still feels like “normal” isn’t here and may never be again.

 I’ve been out with people again over this past year, doing book signings and “Meet and Greets” throughout Texas and some of the Midwest. I’ve talked with a lot of people – some who live with depression and many who have friends, colleagues and/or family members who do.  Here’s what I’ve learned. 

It’s hard for a lot of people to discuss that they live with depression, to even acknowledge it to someone else. That takes a willingness and trust to do.  And although sometimes I find it’s easier to talk with a stranger about some things, many of us still walk around feeling like there’s a stigma to admitting to having it. 

Remember the “old days” where that REALLY was true? The days where answering the question on medical forms – “Do you suffer with depression? With anxiety?” – almost always meant you answered No to the 1st and maybe Yes to the second because your insurance company would seriously ding you if you were honest? I sure remember that!  

Back then, admitting to friends and colleagues that you had depression was a no-no. You wanted to keep it to yourself because people might think less of you or think you were weak  or worse. Those days were tough. 

But that’s not now. Since 2016, when Gold Medal Olympian Simone Biles brought the conversation to the world, SO many celebrities have opened up and brought this issue to the mainstream. They helped break the stigma – the stigma of suffering in silence, of not opening up or of not being willing to seek help – wide open. Now having depression is looked on as an illness, It doesn’t mean you’re broken and especially not that you’re less than.  Can you imagine a new perspective on this – one where the dark cloud surrounding you just might have some sunshine peeking through? 

I know. That may be an odd idea. But think about it. What if your depression wasn’t this awful thing you had to live with? What if it was something you could get your arms around, work with and tame it down, as it were, so that it wasn’t what ran your life but YOU WERE?! Imagine how different your life, your perspective about yourself, would be?  

THAT”S what my book You Aren’t Depression’s Victim is all about – being able to shift your perspective and change your life. It’s about discovering ways to face the dark stuff and step back from it. Wouldn’t that be something?!

Hope may be a four letter word but why not hang onto it and see what’s REALLY POSSIBLE? Just imagine…