Building mental wellness on a foundation of strength
In this edition of This Was Me, we'll look back at times in my 30s when I was unwell, although you wouldn't know it just from looking at the picture. This photo was taken in December 2011, only a week or two after being discharged from a 2-month hospital stay. I was better in… Continue reading This Was Me: The Things That Photos Hide
I did my first big international trip (aside from a high school exchange trip to Japan) when I was 22, and that was when the travel bug firmly took root. From then on, each year I would take all my vacation time together in one block and do an international trip, other than the years… Continue reading This Was Me: My Travelling 20s
Despite the happy-sounding title, I'm talking about falling in a very little sense. The combination of lithium-induced clumsiness and cobblestone streets was bound to catch up to me. It was around 6am and I was walking to the train station to catch an early train to Pompeii. I was crossing a street and completely wiped… Continue reading Falling head over heels for Italy
Travelling has always been a major passion of mine. Unfortunately depression makes it rather hard to feel passionate about much of anything, but in an attempt to get myself a bit more excited about my upcoming trip to Italy I thought I'd do a post covering the places I've managed to tick off my travel… Continue reading Places ticked off my bucket list
Travelling has always been a passion of mine. Since I got sick, travelling with depression means my illness gets its hands dirty interfering in my travel plans and hopping along for the ride. So much for trip cancellation insurance In 2007, I had planned to do an organized tour across China, Mongolia, and Russia with… Continue reading Travelling with depression as a carry-on
Last night I got back from a week-long vacation at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. The vacation came at a very good time. I was starting to get really mired down in negative thoughts, thoughts that convinced me that I was being used, wasn't cared about, and was a failure. The rainy darkness that is… Continue reading Pressing reset (or maybe just pause)
I guess I should start by explaining what Uzbek is. It's the language of Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic in central Asia that was part of the Silk Road that once wound through Asia. It's an area of the world where there are still people living the traditional nomadic lifestyle involving yurts, riding horseback, and… Continue reading How do you say antidepressant in Uzbek?