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The Upside of Depression


In an article titled 10 Good Things About Depression author Therese J. Borchard says about depression "I do hereby appreciate the gifts that this ugly and manipulative beast has laid upon my table, and so — in David Letterman style I give you the Top 10 Good Things About Depression." Here are her points in brief:
  1. I write better ... my mood disorder has been good for my writing because I don’t care as much what other people think.
  2. I have fascinating conversations with strangers ... So one day I told God that if I ever woke up and wanted to be alive that I would dedicate the rest of my life to helping people who are trapped in the Black Hole.
  3. I don’t have a choice about staying in shape ... I know from a long history of trial and error, that if I skip out on exercising for over three days, that I start to fantasize about death again
  4. I care less about numbers ... every day in which I do not want to die is a victory, a smashing success.
  5. I laugh more ... Just like G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.”
  6. I am more outwardly focused ... my outreach efforts on behalf of those cursed with brain chemistry inspire me with a mission worth getting out of bed for.
  7. Depression helps your thinking ... A depressive’s brain is, essentially, always on the treadmill.
    So all this thinking can actually lead to a Eureka! moment. In theory anyway.
  8. I am less judgmental ... anyone who has been completely disabled by an illness learns a lesson or two in humility.
  9. I am more compassionate ... My mood disorder didn’t just disrupt nerve cells in my brain,
    it also expanded my heart.
  10. I am no longer afraid of death (or anything) ... Here’s the thing about being depressed. You are no longer afraid of death. Say a guy with a gun is about to walk into a restaurant where you are eating (true story). You are a tad alarmed, but not scared. Because you are already living your life as fully as you can.
If these points interest you I suggest you take in the whole article here. I really appreciated Ms. Borchard's candor and vulnerability in discussing depression. If you enjoyed this then you might enjoy her writings at the Beyond Blue blog.

... originally posted January 2010
Posted:

6 comments:

  1. RygelJanuary 24, 2010 at 11:19:00 AM CST

    I definitely agree with #s 10, 9, & 4

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bar L.January 24, 2010 at 12:33:00 PM CST

    I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS AND CAN RELATE TO ALMOST ALL OF IT. Thank you! I had never heard of her before and now am a huge fan, thanks to you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. kc bobJanuary 24, 2010 at 1:19:00 PM CST

    You might enjoy Therese's video blog on YouTube here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. pearlieJanuary 25, 2010 at 2:20:00 AM CST

    Thanks for posting this -- I can identify with a few :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Debby@Just BreatheDecember 15, 2015 at 10:18:00 AM CST

    Thank you for sharing the article.

    ReplyDelete
  6. MichaelDecember 27, 2015 at 3:22:00 PM CST

    These are all really good. In particular I like what she wrote here:
    But every day in which I do not want to die is a victory, a smashing success. When you’ve on the fault line between death and life for years at a time, the little stuff doesn’t matter as much.

    ReplyDelete

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