Here’s a little known fact: my mother struggled with depression for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl and she’d go into one of her “blue moods,” she’d hide out in her bedroom for hours on end, while my father would encourage me to be “extra quiet” and the two of us would silently clean the house until it sparkled. If the darkness overtook her when he was at work, I learned to stay in my room and read. The thought of inviting a friend over was completely out of the question. Friends made noise.
When I was fourteen, my 42-year-old father died after a brief battle with stomach cancer, leaving my 41-year-old mother a widow and a single parent. In a time when no one talked about depression, and the drug of the day was Lithium, my mother coped badly. Years later, in my short story Cleopatra Slippers, I wrote about her suicide attempt when I was fifteen.
Cleopatra Slippers was subsequently published in THEMA Literary Journal and later, Unhappy Endings, one of three flash fiction stories in the collection. But this post isn’t about selling literary journals or e-books (though, of course, sales are always appreciated). It’s about getting the word out that depression and mental illness impacts so many families, often behind closed doors. And it’s time to talk about it. Openly, honestly, without shame.
Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day. Simply view this video and Bell will donate five cents to mental health initiatives. Share it using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag and help to spread the word. Thank you.
I’m so sorry to hear about your mother’s bout with depression. My mother also suffered from depression and anxiety. It’s difficult having a parent who suffers from mental illness.
Karen, maybe that’s what turned us into readers and writers, reading and writing an imaginary world to escape to.
I’m so sorry to hear about your mother, Judy.
Sadly, I’ve known three people who suffered with depression and committed suicide. And to think that it might be caused by a chemical imbalance in the body–if researchers could just figure out which one.
Thank you Grace. It astounds me how many celebrities have gone the suicide route. All the money in the world can’t change depression.
Depression runs in my family. My father was bipolar, although on the milder end of the spectrum. After he died 13 years ago, found a letter I wrote to him when I was in college which he saved. I was 19 and the letter was all about making him feel better and trying to lift him out of a bout of depression. A lot of pressure on a kid.
Thank you for sharing your story. I’m so sorry you went through that.
Thank you for sharing your story Ellen. Depression lurks in so many families. Let’s hope the stigma ends.