The First Step After Depression Kept Me From Writing for 2 Months
Mental illness happens. Here’s how I’m dealing with it.
I’m a writer. I blog on Medium. Today, I opened a new draft to write this story. The last time I did this was two months ago. Yet I know that to be a good, successful writer, I should do this more often.
So, what the hell happened?
I’ll tell you: Seasonal Affective Disorder happened. Bipolar Depression happened. Mental illness that impaired my ability to work, happened.
And it’s been awful.
Don’t get me wrong — I did some good things the past few months. I’ve exercised, looked after my physical and mental health, celebrated the holidays with my family . . . but I barely worked. And I didn’t write.
But, I’m back at it today. So, how’d I get here?
Self-Forgiveness is the Key
The first thing I did was forgive myself for taking time off. You may be thinking, “What’s to forgive, Amy? You were suffering! It’s not your fault!”
True.
But for this recovering perfectionist, I feel like I need to be forgiven. I feel like I let myself down. I’m ambitious and creative; I’m a writer who wants to help people and…
