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Why I Wrote Seven Strategies to Recognize and Overcome Depression
Information provided by Martina Roe - Published: 2010-10-08
Ever since I was a small child I had a very poor immunity. When other children came to pick me up to go out and play with them, often I sadly had to send them away.
I had to tell them I had yet another pneumonia or tonsillitis and was not allowed to go out. As I started to grow up I just said to myself that I have to ignore all my frequent illnesses, otherwise I would just have to spend most of my life in bed, which I certainly did not want to do. As any other teenager I had lots of dreams which I hoped would fulfill themselves.
Today I should be able to tell you whether my strategy worked. For many years I thought so as I was successful at anything I touched and I thought I enjoyed my life to the full. But five years ago everything in my life started to fall to pieces. For years I was ignoring the warning signs of the symptoms of my illness and suddenly I found myself so ill I could not even manage the smallest of things. I finally started to realize that I was not managing my illness very well and that I must find some strategy how to push myself from the bottom of my despair. Even my lifelong optimism was no longer helping.
I had the impression that every time I make a step forwards I am pushed backwards by three steps. Some of my friends remained loyal to me and tried to support me as best they could, but others were disappointed as they no longer found the same enthusiasm in me as before. I really tried to take notice of any positive comments, including those which were originating from my young sons. I was very impressed with the advice they have given me which I would only expect from a trained counselor or psychologist. But at the same time I realized that they learned this type of positive encouragement from me as I always surrounded them with a lot of love as well as positive and constructive criticism. It was at that time I wanted to share all this advice with others who would have found themselves in similar situations as I did then.
At that time I started to look at my illness from a different angle. In the past I might be slightly angry that I have to suffer and cannot quite achieve what I wanted to do. Later I started to understand that there are people who have to overcome so many obstacles and are still happy. I therefore accepted my illness, rather than constantly running away from it and fearing it. I started to redefine my life’s ambitions and understood that if I want to help others I have to help myself first.
Even though the strategies are aimed at ill or disabled people, they are based on principals which are valid for everybody - belief in each one of us and that we can achieve almost everything we wish for. On our journey through life we find ourselves at various crossroads and cannot always take the route we would have liked to. But despite that we can still reach our goal, even if slightly slower.
Writing my Seven Strategies has given me a tremendous strength, which I am only pleased to share with others. Often we do not believe in ourselves and unfortunately abandon our dreams. We listen to advice and suggestions of others which might not necessarily be always right for us. Naturally our plans will not materialize overnight. One has to be patient and take small steps and highlight the positive rather than worry about all the negative stuff that happened. Our life is a journey in which we shall naturally make mistakes. But we should not be held back because of them, but rather learn through them so we can avoid them in the future.
So when I look back at my life I can definitely say that trying to ignore the symptoms of my illness certainly did not work. I tried to pretend everything went well, but the reality was different. I was often engaging in projects which have exhausted me. I was not listening to my body, actually I found it really difficult to sit down just for a few minutes doing nothing. I preferred keeping myself busy as I would not be able to spot how uncomfortable and full of pain my body felt.
So nowadays I know that I must slow down if I do not feel very well and give my body some well deserved rest. Perhaps I shall not manage as much as I used to but slowly I shall approach my goal and nothing would be falling to pieces. So if you feel that there is something missing in your life, that your relationships or work does not fulfill you or you want to live healthier, I would definitely recommend you to read my Seven Strategies. You will see that they will help you change your life for the better. Step by step, but you will learn about it in How to Cope with Sudden Illness or Disability.
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