My Way

If you are supporting someone who suffers from depression, you absolutely have to take care of yourself. Wherever possible - and I know most of the time it's impossible - you must put yourself first. Any chance you get to do something for you, do it. Anything that makes you smile, satisfied or gives you solace.

To that end, I am going to be selfish with today's post.

Every day for the last 31 days I have posted about my Sufferer's depression and our life together. I haven't missed a day. I can hardly believe it. In the face of all of life's myriad challenges, I have achieved what I set out to do.

Beyond that, people have actually been reading what I have written. The cherry on the top is that those who have shared their thoughts with me have told me how they have enjoyed the blog, found it helpful, related to it, learned something.

Undoubtedly, I could have done better. But I did it, nonetheless.

And I won't stop doing it. As and when I have something relevant to share, I'll post it for all to see. Keep popping back.

In the meantime, I leave you with my sentiments on this project :)

 
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PS: Huge thanks to my Sufferer for lettin gme share all of this with the world x

Mirror, Mirror...

Today was one of those days when I just couldn't get anything done. Not that I could be bothered to even try. I've been fighting off a lurgy for over a week now and it seemed to finally take me down today.

What was interesting was that my sufferer seemed to suffer some reflected lack of motivation - as if my sloth-like response to this virus was contagious. Don't misunderstand - he didn't suddenly tumble back down the hill into some pit of darkness. He just couldn't seem to get started on almost anything.

I used my usual nudging techniques to point him in the right direction but to no avail.

When we talked about it at lunchtime, he pointed out that he finds it a real struggle when I'm out of action. I don't micro-manage his time to ensure he gets things done - far from it. I try very hard to leave him to his own devices. For some reason, though, he can't kick-start his day if he knows I'm not up to much.

Is this the essence of co-dependence? It seems like something other than that. But I'm not sure exactly what! Is it just an excuse for having a lazy day too? Can it be overcome? How?!

Reflecting on the day that's drawing to a close, my sufferer has actually been pretty busy. EVen if he doesn't realise it. He has cared for our young boys, made lunches, cooked dinner, read stories, written a guest post for me (without being asked!), tidied a mountain of toys away, bathed the  boys and done the bedtime routine. Not bad at all really.

Maybe it's more about feeling unproductive than actually being unproductive. Damn those pesky feelings! ;)

Follow on Facebook and Twitter @PondersNeverEnd or use #CrazyStupidDepression