This tool is immensely powerful, but using it is not easy. Asking questions to challenge unhelpful thinking styles requires a commitment to act. If you do not do the work to think about the questions, your answer will always be unhelpful. I know, I have skirted around unhelpful thinking for years. Even if I thought to ask one of these questions, I was not interested … [Read more...] about 13 Questions to Challenge Unhelpful Thinking Styles
High-functioning depression
I’m Glad I Did Not Know How Bad I Was
Imagine saying this out loud: “My last bottom was the deepest, darkest, most horrible place I have ever been.” Yet that was me last year. Reading through some of my older writing, I came across this line. It reached out and stunned me. How could I have written that? I had no idea I was that bad. It’s no wonder I sought professional medical attention. Reading that again … [Read more...] about I’m Glad I Did Not Know How Bad I Was
Why Do I Think in Terms of All or Nothing?
I tell myself I avoid drama, and yet many of my waking hours are spent creating all or nothing situations in my head. I interrupt someone and get a short response. Immediately, my mind goes to the worst possible meaning of that response. They don’t love me. They're mad at me for something. What did I do? And silence is even worse. My depression uses silence to get … [Read more...] about Why Do I Think in Terms of All or Nothing?
Concealed Depression is my day to day life
The most important thing to remember about concealed depression is you will not feel much of anything. But that’s OK. Feelings get in the way and muddy the waters. Facts are easier to deal with and don’t have an agenda. Feelings and emotions can take time to sort out and slow down the process. My ability to open myself up and share feelings has been muted by my … [Read more...] about Concealed Depression is my day to day life
Every Day I Push the Same Rock Up the Same Hill
Some days it is a pebble and the hill is hardly noticeable. Other days, it is a boulder and the hill is more of a mountain, that ascends almost vertically from the valley floor. During these days, my depression is everything. Concealing it and acting to the world like nothing is wrong takes all my energy. And I mean every single ounce of energy I can muster to keep people … [Read more...] about Every Day I Push the Same Rock Up the Same Hill