This is really hard. REALLY HARD. I’m struggling with it right now and my critic is screaming at me. But I managed to deploy this comic I’ve drawn for a while now. It’s one small step. And it’s enough, critic.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Depression changes the usual rules on managing criticism and the various voices in our heads. There’s no easy solution – look at the speed at which I’m posting! But one trick is to recognise when people do care, and when[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
If we really want to be fair to others, we don’t just listen to all the bad things about them, or even just the good things. Being human, no one is perfect. So to be fair, we should listen to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The problem with mental health struggles is that what seems “okay” and “doable” or even “normal” sometimes isn’t any of that. The mind gets up in a bind when faced with some “common-sense” thoughts. Insisting that it should be okay,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
To understand ourselves better, and our struggles especially in depression, it’s always good to be realistic about ourselves and our humanity. Negative emotions are very evident in depression, but they’re actually normal, useful and helpful. But as with everything, too[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Our inner critic is important to us as a defense against the world, and to push us to do better. But in depression, that can become way over low, and is a bit of a vicious circle. We start listening[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
This doesn’t just happen in depression but it’s a lot more difficult when depression is involved. Understanding why the negative voices are there and why they’re so difficult to overcome is helpful to understand why it’s not so easy sometimes,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
When this sort of thing happens to someone without depression, the common reply is to just “get over it” and “move on” and “ignore the negative voices”. It’s really not that easy for some. And well, in depression? We hear[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I don’t mean an actual stage, of course. When anyone is watching – and many are, in our lives – it does feel like we’re performing on a stage for anything even remotely public. And even in private, we have[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Fighting ourselves is never easy. So it’s often easier to ignore it, and do other things to distract ourselves, or to avoid problems. Mental health conditions aren’t forgiving on that though. The problem is now in your face. Facing up[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…