A Verbal Hug for Depressed Friends

Photo by Michael Fenton on Unsplash

Yesterday was one of those days. Sporadically, at least.

I’m calling out “sporadically” because I’m back to believing there’s important work for me to do on the topic of depression.

Back when I struggled with chronic depression, “one of those days” meant an actual bad day. No pockets of joy, delight, gratitude and awe. Just 24 hours of slogging through. Usually 20 of them spent awake and exhausted because my depression included lots of insomnia.

But in post-chronic-depression life, “one of those days” means something different. It means that between 50-90% of my waking time was pretty good…but the rest was a little rough.

I want people who are still going through chronic depression to read that and feel seen. Your bad day in depression – it really is different than your friend’s bad day in generally well-ish health.

Fortunately, I believe there’s a path out. I believe that most of society’s thinking on depression is wrong and that’s why so many people stay trapped in these chronic cycles. My feelings: you don’t have a standalone disease caused by faulty neurotransmitters. You have a symptom (like a fever) shouting at you that something is off. That symptom (which presents as depression for you and may present as anxiety or an autoimmune disease in someone else): it’s trying to help you. It’s shouting and waving its arms because it wants to draw your attention to something that needs to be addressed.

And, when you have the chance to do that, when you have the opportunity to practice true root cause resolution, resolving whatever is driving your unique case of depression, chances are high that you’ll find freedom. Then your “one of those days” will turn into what I’m describing – pretty good for 50-90% of the day, with pockets of “ugh, human-ing can be so hard” in between.

I’ve gotten way off track here. I thought I was going to write a short little diddy about how yesterday was hard and how I can’t imagine going through life without a supportive partner and a harmonious household, then share some shamanic perspectives on life…but this is what came out instead.

I prefer to trust the process, so this is what I’m going to post.

In June, when I’m done traveling and have a bit of stability in my life, I’m going to be looking for people who suffer from high-functioning depression who want to try shamanic energy medicine as part of their treatment protocol. I had an amazing success story where someone who suffered from chronic depression found a path out of his depressive cycles through shamanic sessions and I want to see if it will work for other people. If you want to gift sessions to someone you love, that’s an option, but they need to be available during Chinese timezone-friendly hours.

Wishing those of you who feel good the chance to pause and feel grateful for feeling good.

Wishing those of you who feel bad the chance to pause and connect to hope. Maybe you’re a week away from finding the solution that works for you.

Love,

Keely