The Monster Book of Questions and Answers
I wish I could write a letter to my younger self and tell her that she’s brave and smart and funny and good. I can’t, though, so I’m writing to you, to tell you exactly those things.
Topic: depression
I wish I could write a letter to my younger self and tell her that she’s brave and smart and funny and good. I can’t, though, so I’m writing to you, to tell you exactly those things.
You can take back control of your life. You can talk back to the voice in your head and tell it to be quiet. You can get dressed and leave your home to go to work because depression isn't your boss. You can choose to ignore the things that people say. You can choose to keep going.
My depression was like getting stuck in traffic. I was there against my will. I was running out of fresh air. Everything was blurry. My thoughts and feelings were crossing and running around, and I didn’t even know if they were mine or someone else’s.
There is a power we hold and a purpose we serve simply by showing up for one another.
You’ve gotten through every bad day you didn’t think you could get through. You’ve gotten through every night you wanted to kill yourself and every day you wanted to die.
You may look like nothing more than a broken tree branch. But you are something solid, strong real, graceful. You can take flight—you can glide. You are awesomely weird.
"Depression is not a failure, just as winter is not a mistake among the seasons. Denying depression is like expecting summer to supply snow or autumn to bear blossoms."
"Last February was maybe the hardest month of my life."
“Dear depression, You don't own me.”
“So today, no matter how little you think you’ve come in recovery, no matter how many mistakes you've made, please know that you would be doing a disservice to this world by taking yourself away from it.”
“Hope always seemed like something abstract to me. It was out there, somehow, just maybe not for me. But now I’ve learned that it’s a tangible thing.”
“I can't promise that you will never feel such desperation again, but I can promise that you can get through this.”
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