Inspired by the final blog post of Obesio the Loser, a former online-friend, here's a list of stuff I've noticed over the decades. 1. Sometimes it gets better. Sometimes it doesn't. 2. No two people are exactly alike, but few people are genuinely special. 3. I still...
I'm proud to say that the depression support group I started through Meetup.com is going strong. As you can see in this screenshot, I started it on October 10th and we now have 111 members. Between seven and ten of us meet every Monday evening in Rogers Park and we...
[NOTE: the name of our Meetup has since been changed to Depression: Friends Supporting Each Other because people thought the original name was too negative. Of course it was negative! We're talking about depression. But I listened to the members and we voted on a...
Wait! Start with Part One! Eleventh Session (Oct. 17, 2017) I'm bored with this program and bored with blogging about it. Usually 10-15 people show up, but today there were only eight. The first exercise was to write letters to ourselves about how we've changed...
Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago, Illinois USA Start with Part One please! Ninth Session (Oct. 13, 2017) There's one man who consistently dozes in group and I feel for him because it sounds like he's on too strong a sleeping pill prescription....
Hey, start with Outpatient program for depression and anxiety, part one! Seventh session (Oct. 9, 2017) Today was weird. It was clear that at least some of the staff had read last week's blog posts and changed their behavior accordingly (on my third day there I...
Don't read this until you read Outpatient program for depression and anxiety, part one. Fifth session (Oct. 5, 2017) This morning I found the first hour disturbing. We did the usual check-in with the facilitator asking everyone about sleep, appetite,...
Please! Read this first Outpatient program for depression and anxiety, part one. Fourth Session (Oct. 3, 2017) The St. Joseph Hospital outpatient program did get better this week. It's like they really heard our criticisms of the heavy focus on handouts and the...
First, please read: Outpatient program part one. Third Session (Sept. 29, 2017) Today was better. The first hour of checking in was conducted by a facilitator I'd actually seen before. I've finally made it to the repeats! One woman said she'd had a hard...
First Session (Sept. 26, 2017) I've been accepted into Saint Joseph Hospital's Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) in Chicago (where I live). It's for adults struggling with mental illness. I'm one of the depressives. It goes from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday...
Next post on weight & health: Determined At the age of 50, I'm now on my fifth year of being fat. When I went from size 10 to size 18 in the last months of my marriage in 2013, I thought, "I'm not worried about gaining weight. I've been thin and active my...
My cousin-once-removed asked me about meditation, so here's my story. I started with guided meditation when I was in my mid-twenties. I liked listening to someone else's voice as it led me through a visualization exercise that helped me relax and feel completely...
On this April Fool's Day, I feel like stating the obvious: depression is not productive. At the age of 49 and three quarters, I'm still learning how to manage my chronic depression, which sometimes gets triggered by a specific circumstance, but often shows up with no...
Bernie Sanders has my vote, which I plan to cast later this week during Illinois' early voting period. But I was disappointed by his remark in last night's debate: We are -- if elected president -- going to invest a lot of money into mental health. And when you watch...
Last week I got all excited because my period was late and I fantasized that I'd entered menopause and was never going to menstruate again. Anyone who thinks menopause is very uncomfortable and I'm crazy to want it, here are two points: 1. Menstruation with fibroids...