A Terrible Melancholy is a documentary about lawyers with depression, but it’s relevant to anyone trying to understand more about the illness. Dan Lukasik, a lawyer who has lived with depression for the past ten years, produced the film to encourage others in his profession to seek help. The message is on target for anyone […]
5 Comedies about Depression
Yes, there are such things as comedies about depression. Sort of light, often romantic, oddly funny, definitely quirky, and probably not for everyone. Perhaps depression has given me a strange sense of humor, but laughing at a deadly serious illness helps me from time to time. You need to have a pretty good imagination and […]
A Recovery Valentine Revisited
There is a powerful moment in the film, Tender Mercies, when the lead character, hearing of the death of someone close to him, says he hates happiness. “You can’t trust it.” I learned many lessons like that when young. For a long time, I was fearful of a happiness that seemed to depend on being […]
13 Ways of Defining Depression
With all the conflict about defining depression, it’s not surprising if you’re confused about what it is, where it comes from and how best to treat it. There may not be much disagreement or confusion about what it does to you. But there is a difference of opinion about whether those impacts are a good […]
Does the Partner or Depression Cause the Breakup?
I’ve often described the way depression can break up close relationships, but does the illness explain everything? How responsible are depressed partners for the human cost that others pay because of what they do when they’re ill? One reader told me I’d confused her about this. First, I talked about depression taking over someone, as […]
The Healing Stories of Rachel Naomi Remen
I keep coming back to the stories of Rachel Naomi Remen, and this video of one of her lectures reminds me what I value in her work. While advocates of the new medicine have been revolutionizing the paradigm of medical practice, Remen is one of those physicians who has changed many lives by applying these […]
