Journalist Sean Parnell – health and freedom of information editor at The Australian – recently wrote a very personal piece about having depression.
In it, he describes its onset and impact and how, with the support of family and health professionals, he has sought to “tighten the leash on this black dog”. He notes:
One of my biggest challenges was overcoming the belief that, as a reasonably smart person, I could pinpoint what was wrong, and simply put myself in the right headspace to carry on.
By the time I was grappling with that challenge, the opportunity to take better care of myself had passed, and I needed help to know my new self better. Even then, it wasn’t easy. You don’t need to tell someone with depression to “get over it” because they will be telling themselves that already, in much harsher terms.
The article is both very moving and matter-of-fact. Parnell followed up last week with a great series on tweets on what he learnt from writing the story.
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