We’re Back!

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there’s love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” –Ella Fitzgerald

Thank you for joining me on this journey!

After a two-month hiatus, Rescue Yourself: CPR for Depressives is back. I’ve retooled the website for a fresher look, added some new widgets, and included an about me page. I had loads of fun adding unique photo headers at the top of each “About” page (see the links at the top of the blog); with the exception of one, all the photos are from the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens near Pasadena, California. And yes, I took them all! I am in the process of redefining the categories so that they will be more obvious and act more like an index. Look for the more user-friendly categories sometime this coming week.

Pretty pictures aside, it is my hope that the blog will be more readable, enjoyable, and useful to you.  Many thanks to everyone who gave input via the poll I posted in July. I am looking forward to doing some cool things with the blog such as interviews with experts in the health and wellness fields, recipes for foods that supercharge the brain, and even some guided visualizations using audio technology.

I hope your summer was everything you needed it to be, as free from depression as possible. I found myself in the midst of a few depressive episodes, largely due to the extreme heat and exceptional drought here in Texas, the likes of which haven’t been seen since–well, never. We broke every heat and dryness record here since they started recording such things. Excessive heat can actually inflame the brain and make depression worse. (Hmm, maybe, just maybe, Texas isn’t the right place for me!)

I’ve been cogitating a lot this summer on the true nature of depression, not just how it manifests, but what causes it, why some people get it and others don’t, and what–going beyond the physical and emotional symptoms–it really is. It’s my opinion that chronic, recalcitrant depression is, by and large, a spiritual illness, or what medical intuitive Caroline Myss calls “mystical depression.” I’ll be talking more about that in a future blog post.

Also coming up in the next couple of months will be an in-depth look at the underpinnings of the CPR recovery program: Care for yourself radically, Practice reliance on a Higher Power, and Re-vision and revitalize your life. As part of this exploration, I’ll introduce the Twelve Pillars of Wellness, material that I developed a few years ago for a live workshop entitled “Going Beyond Depression,” which I gave in Tucson in 2004. Additionally, you’ll have a chance to try more interactive exercises, including some forays into the expressive arts, and you’ll be seeing more insights from leading lights in the fields of nutrition, exercise physiology, spirituality, and alternative healing.

St. Francis is a worthy exemplar of serentiy for us.

I spent the last few weeks recovering from acute bronchitis. When my lungs aren’t working, there isn’t a whole lot I can do except rest, sleep, and think. In between nebulizer treatments, I got to thinking about what it really means to heal and if complete healing from depression (not to mention bum lungs!) is possible. I don’t have a definitive answer to that question, but I invite you to explore that possibility with me in the weeks and months to come.

I’m glad to be back here at CPR for Depressives, and I hope you’ll continue to not only follow the blog as new posts appear, but actually try the exercises and suggestions and report back on how well they worked or didn’t work for you. It’s through sharing our experience, strength, and hope with each other that we are better able to recover from depression and create lives that are rewarding and infused with everyday happiness. I look forward to serving you by sharing not just knowledge about what it takes to recover from depression, but also wisdom about living an amazing life, no matter what challenges we face.

Until next time,

Patricia

CPR4D Is Getting a Makeover!

Hi, Everyone,

Changes are afoot at Rescue Yourself: CPR for Depressives. We’re getting a makeover! Not an extreme one, mind you, but some gentle changes that will make this blog more accessible and interactive, and more of a practical tool that will help accelerate your recovery from depression. In short, I want to make this blog friendlier and more inviting.

My goal is to make this the best depression blog on the Internet, bar none. I see this blog as a safe haven in the tsunami of depression that is sweeping the world. The incidence of depression has increased ten times since the end of World War II. I want this to be a place where people can come and find practical solutions, community, and hope. I want to put the pieces in the puzzle of how to get well together in a holistic, comprehensive way that no one was able to do for me when I was first diagnosed with the dreaded “Double D” nearly ten years ago. Most of all, I want you and other depression sufferers to get your lives back and realize your own amazing potential. The world needs you!

Some of the changes I am contemplating include the following:

• Shorter, more frequent postings that fit in better with the spirit of blogging;
• Fewer near-feature-length, near-magazine-quality articles (which, frankly, I’ve worn myself out trying to keep up with);
• A less “academic” tone;
• More photos, feedback, and fun;
• Experiments with multi-media (what would you think about downloadable MP3 guided visualizations?); and
• More emphasis on building community.

But I can’t do any of this without your help. You have experience, strength, and hope that others can benefit from, unique perspectives and knowledge of what works and what doesn’t that others desperately need to hear. To that end, here is a brief poll so that you can tell me how you’d like CPR4D to look and what you’d like it to contain (I haven’t done a poll before, so let’s hope this works!). Select as many items as you’d like, as long as they don’t contradict each other:

Thanks for taking the time to give your input. Please feel free to add any comments in the “Comments” section as to what you would find helpful to have in this blog as you strive to live your best life in spite of having depression.