Tag: depression
-
The Price of Seeking Help: When Mental Health Records Become Liabilities
At the Doctor’s Office I had a doctor’s appointment today to fill out some occupational health forms for a new job. They checked my ears, eyes, lungs, weight, reflexes, medical history, and more. But there was an awkward moment. My doctor told me that he would unfortunately need to indicate my past “Emotional Problems” on… Read more
-
5 Ways to Calm Down in 1 Minute or Less
Do you ever feel yourself getting wound up and out of control, unable to stop the feeling? For me, I start to grit my teeth, my breathing gets faster, my hands ball into fists, and I have trouble concentrating. In this state, life feels overwhelming and effort seems pointless. But I have learned 5 quick… Read more
-
Causes of My Depression That Had Little to Do With My Brain
Is Depression Caused By a Malfunctioning Brain? Right off the bat, I want to stress that I am not a doctor, so this post is in no way intended to provide medical advice. What I am hoping to achieve is to normalize the topic of depression and humanize it with lived experience. Depression can make a person… Read more
-
Book #49- Reflections on “Lost Connections”
Book #49 Lost Connections By Johann Hari Hari’s Relatable Story of Depression For over a decade, Johann Hari struggled with depression. He was told it was due to a chemical imbalance in his brain and that antidepressants were the solution. The dosage steadily grew and so did his struggles with the medication’s symptoms. Yet, things… Read more
-
How to Be More Present: 6 Ways I’m Fighting Mental Burnout
Are You Enjoying Your Relationships? I don’t enjoy my relationships as much as I used to. That takes a lot for me to admit. Coordinating our schedules used to happen effortlessly, and we were present when we were together. Now, scheduling a meeting with friends typically takes weeks if not months to organize. When it… Read more
-
An Artistic Exercise
Art That Makes Me Uncomfortable In his book How To Be An Artist, Jerry Saltz suggests to list three artists whose work makes you feel uncomfortable and then list three reasons why you are uncomfortable. Fine, I’ll bite. I’ll do the exercise. I will write about one of those examples in this blog post. The… Read more
-
Gritting Your Teeth Over a Blessing
Both Blessing & Burden Can Coexist In Highlight Real by Emily Lynn Paulson, the author describes her fear over her fourth pregnancy. She was angry over the positive pregnancy test because she was already overwhelmed with three young children. She then reflexively had that feeling of “don’t you know how lucky you are” and “children… Read more
-
Book #6- Reflections on “I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki”
Book #6 I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki By Baek Sehee The Fog of Depression At the beginning of this book, Sehee describes her depression as a “vague state of being not fine and not devastated at the same time”. It reminded me of my own words in my blog post… Read more