I’ve taken some poetic license here. These blogs aren’t solely about depression, although they don’t drift far away. And they aren’t in this list by consensus, since I’m the sole judge and arbiter!
“Furious Seasons”
http://www.furiousseasons.com/ >
Philip Dawdy describes his blog as “one man’s attempt to make sense of mental illness in America”. He is a persistent campaigner, exposing the wrongs of big pharma.
“A Beautiful Revolution”
http://www.abeautifulrevolution.com/blog/ >
I don’t know if I “get it”, but this site is full of great stuff.
“Space and Time”
Small posts about everything and nothing. Personal, humorous and self-deprecating.
Unfortunately this blog has since been discontinued.
“The Splintered Mind”
http://thesplinteredmind.blogspot.com/ >
Deals with neurological disabilities – ADHD, depression and the like – using plenty of attitude and dry humor.
“The Pursuit of Happiness”
http://happinesspursuing.blogspot.com/ >
This blog is subtitled “one man’s battle against depression”, which is an apt description. The anonymous writer is on a lonely journey to find out what is wrong with him and which treatments to try. A new blog, not self-indulgent and very moving.
Leave your favorites in the comments!
Nicola 14 Jun 2007 @ 2:41 am
Beautiful Revolution – I’m addicted.
Douglas Cootey 13 Sep 2007 @ 3:08 am
I just came across this and I have to say that I am quite flattered and honored. Thank you for ranking me so highly.
I like the name of your domain/blog, btw. Finding optimism is the only treatment I found to work for my Depression. It was hard work and took years, but I trained myself to think differently and take the bite out of Depression. That and I’m a cheeky guy who was too stubborn to believe I couldn’t fight Depression off without medication.
Of course, I had little choice. Side-effects were a pain. Unleashed mutant powers, scales, extra noses…I was a mess.
Cheers,
Douglas Cootey
☆ The Splintered Mind – Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude
Dr Shock 19 Nov 2007 @ 1:57 pm
I like Vicarious Therapy: http://vicarioustherapy.blogspot.com/
She writes very well, I am mostly astonished by her frankness and openness.
Nice initiative this Top 5, when will be the next issue?
Regards Dr Shock
james 19 Nov 2007 @ 2:14 pm
An excellent blog – Vicarious Therapy – thanks for the tip.
I’m unlikely to do another ‘Top 5 Depression Blogs’ soon, and definitely no award! Perhaps a Top 5 on something unusual.
Idetrorce 15 Dec 2007 @ 7:21 am
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
Annie 16 Apr 2008 @ 2:27 am
That’s a great selection up there. I chked out all of them and I agree that they are all doing a wonderful job !!!
Amanda 9 Jun 2008 @ 6:30 am
I found a really great blod for depression called http://www.myfightwithdepression.com/blog/
I found this site really informative with a really personal touch too!
gin davis 20 Jun 2008 @ 6:20 am
great at least we can conquer this mental depression issue
………………………………………………..
gin davis
http://www.dual-diagnosis.net
Heather 31 Oct 2008 @ 11:17 am
Intersting article on depression and meditation, working with depression instead of seeing it as a problem:
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2008/03/depression-is-not-a-disease-anxiety-meditation/
Andrew 21 Dec 2008 @ 10:19 am
I think the answer ischanging the way we think. My thoughts and experiences – http://www.strayblackdog.co.uk
Thoughts, despairs and treatments of an experienced depressive. This blog is not intended to give advice, but to explain the everyday experiences, medical treatments, medication side effects, emotions and thoughts of a middle aged man who has been a depressive for 25 years
Brian 3 Mar 2009 @ 9:38 pm
Thanks for this posting. I’ve battled depression and bi-polar disorder for many years and finally am seeing some daylight after after a long, difficult struggle. I’ve begun blogging about my experiences at http://www.PotatoOrg.com
Connor Kelly 26 Apr 2009 @ 12:49 pm
Never came across Furious Seasons before. Alot of the posts on that blog are worth checking out.
Also I have started blogging about depression and exploring ways to cope with depression and recovery.
christina jello 30 Apr 2009 @ 9:21 am
I just came across this article on how to help depressed people and i just thought, I wish more people can read this!
it’s called Helping the Helpless
http://www.intent.com/blog/2009/04/29/helping-helpless
Lauren 15 May 2009 @ 7:07 pm
Am loving The Pursuit of Happyness!
LnddMiles 22 Jul 2009 @ 4:57 am
Pretty cool post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say
that I have really liked reading your blog posts. Anyway
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you post again soon!
MichaellaS 22 Jul 2009 @ 9:46 am
tks for the effort you put in here I appreciate it!
Luz M. Costa 7 Sep 2009 @ 4:24 pm
This is my favorite depression blog. He’s an English Professor, poet, and creative writer who has lived with depression for decades. The writing is literary and raw, artful and honest.
sandrar 11 Sep 2009 @ 12:20 am
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.
Charles Bivona 25 Sep 2009 @ 3:41 pm
I like Heather’s comment–working with depression instead of seeing it as a problem. I can relate.
Years ago, I hit rock bottom. Everything in my life failed: too many girlfriends lost, so many jobs lost, friends and family estranged, trapped in a marriage of emotional convenience–with no money, no pleasure, no passion, and no creativity or poems. I stayed in bed, weeping, for days. I finally understood what was happening to me. I hit the concrete floor of my psyche and scraped off a layer of skin. It hurt from my center out. I had never been so scared, but I still wanted to fight.
I needed to remember what had happened to me. I started talking it out with my few true friends and my family. I worked with a few great therapists and — for one surreal month — a sagely psychiatrist at the end of his practice.
Slowly, very slowly, I started scraping away at my shell of repression. I gradually started remembering. Today, I experience sudden and overwhelming emotional connections. I realize why I made certain past choices. I feel stupid and ashamed and worthless. I cry. I shake. I curl in a ball. I remember. I remember. I remember. I suddenly started writing.
The pain is so old it smells dusty, it bursts from my pores. I hurt in the old ways. I taste the adrenaline of the original fear in my mouth. I feel the old clench of terror in my entire body. Every muscles braces for more punishment.
It seize me up sometimes. I’m at the kitchen sink, doing the dishes, and I freeze. I remember in my body, as much as my mind. I shake. I flash back. I feel waves of terror and confusion wash over me. It’s all coming out, at last.
All I can think to do is write it all out, so I do. It helps. It’s healing. I am forgiving the past for its failings. I am forgiving myself, slowly, for my own.
I am finally speaking, repeating it all — one horrifying flash at a time — remembering and working through.
Please, all of you, be well
Depression Blog 10 Dec 2009 @ 3:28 pm
Hi. I like the links. I thought you might be interested in my friends blog website. He had depression for about 15 years. He’s only just started the blog so I was hoping for some feedback.
Thanks
Amy Beth 13 Dec 2009 @ 6:30 am
Depression has been a huge issue off and on since I was a young child. I have and am medicated, but I’ve been in a funk now for months that I’m having trouble pulling out of. I’m seeing a therapist and a parenting counselor!!! Ahh
John 31 Dec 2009 @ 6:48 am
A Beautiful Revolution tells a story of how dreams do come true and persistence certainly does pay off. There is a lot to be learned from this short story and I encourage everyone to read it, it also answers many questions that one may have except one that I had, I still don’t know if “Pickles have bite”. ;o)
Andy 21 Jan 2010 @ 11:40 pm
I’m unhappy every day of my life, from when i wake up to when i go to bed, but usually i cant sleep. i hear noises all the time, well every time its quiet. i want to die quite badly. Ive tried to tell my mum about my problems, she just blocked them out. since im only 14 i have to still go to my parents for everything, except my dad doesn’t want to hear about it and if i tried to tell him he would probably make fun of me for a long long long time with his wife and friends and as i said my mum doesnt even try to improve my life. all of my family are mean, heartless and stupid people. i cant stand them and to make it worse i live in a small 2 bedroom unit with my mum and two brothers, i also had to share a room with my mum and younger brother for 3 years but that has changed thank god. i keep on trying to think things up, things that will make me happy. maybe a puppy might make me happy or a set of toy cars. things like that but every time i ask my mum she just says no even though i do all of my chores and my brothers chores and im always trying to make her happy hoping that one day she will do the same. all of my friends talk behind my back and try to get me into fights, i treat all of my friends with respect and im loyal to them, i treat everyone with respect and yet im always the one that gets left behind and kicked in the face. i wish i was happy, i really do. sorry, i have to tell someone my problems, no one else will listen.
Marie 1 Feb 2010 @ 10:05 am
I had a friend who no longer wants to talk to me because I am downer”. I told this person that I can’t help feeling this way and I get the usual….”just think positive, quit thinking so bad of yourself, it doesn’t make sense why your that way, why dont your medications work then”,,,It’s sad that not just this friend but other people don’t try to sympathize or try to understand because it’s not a physical disease. Just because people can’t see it, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I told this “friend” that if I could cut off my arm just for me to be happy and cheerful I would. I hate this feeling.
Brittany 3 Feb 2010 @ 6:16 pm
I have spent the past 2 days at home. I do nothing but eat, sleep and cry for various reasons. I didn’t bother showering today or even brushing my teeth and getting dressed. I don’t even make food, I grab whatever is easiest for me to sit down and eat. I have a blanket that I’ve wrapped myself in and won’t stand up with out it. I sometimes lie on my floor and cry and talk to myself. I always tell myself that things are my fault and that I am fat and ugly and stupid. I can’t picture my future at all. Sunny days used to make me smile. Today I saw the sun outside my curtains and it made me feel worse to know that so many people were out happily enjoying it while I couldn’t even find the desire to. I’ve gained weight. I have lost contact with friends and never really had contact with my family. I miss school frequently and always think about quitting my job so that I may sit at home alone and not see anyone. I feel like everyone has something going for them, something that makes them unique. An instrument, art, intelligence, whit, sports, something! I have nothing. I never have. When I was younger I had a lot of potential to do well. My mother held me back with all her efforts. I don’t think of the world outside much. It’s overwhelming to see everyone with their lives all coming together so well. I don’t know where they are going but they have families and friends and dreams. All I know is that I want to go everywhere and see everything. I’m not on the right path though, and I can’t find the energy to get motivated and work on it. I don’t want to tell my best friend/ boyfriend about it because I know he’s got his own problems. Besides, everyone is attracted to confident, happy people. I know I really like him and want to be with him, but sometimes I have a hard time feeling anything at all. I know what I have to do to make myself happy, but I am stuck in this rut. I worry a lot about being unattractive, probably more so than anyone should. I still make the effort to look good so that people won’t know how sad I am. It is not pity that I seek. I want understanding. I want to be happy. People constantly tell me that teenagers go through phases. Not all teenagers have tried multiple times to kill themselves or have scars from punishing themselves. I never blamed my depression on anyone other than myself. I don’t care who I am, I just don’t want to be me.
Sarah 17 Feb 2010 @ 5:43 am
I like http://emotionalumbrella.com. She’s engagingly candid about her experiences with a number of different medications, and also writes about trying alternative therapies, like meditation and such. Often entertaining, and I can always relate.
Curiosity 19 Feb 2010 @ 1:32 pm
Wow. Thank you, Sarah. It’s kind of weird to know that anyone out there is paying attention to what I have to say, but also super flattering. I always make it a rule to assume that everyone who visits is there for the picture of hugging animals I posted once (which gets WAY more traffic than I do. Seriously.).
…Though I do now feel a little like I should go meditate on which alternative medication to candidly report on.
Curiosity 20 Feb 2010 @ 11:59 am
@Brittany I don’t know if you’ll ever come back here to see this, but I just read your comment, and the first half of what you said felt like you were narrating my life. If ever you need to know that you aren’t alone, and someone out there understands EXACTLY what you’re talking about, you’re welcome to contact me. Hang in there everybody. We’ll kick this yet.
Debbie 28 Feb 2010 @ 11:42 pm
Here is a fairly new one but one that I think has potential to be great:
http://shebecamebutterfly.blogspot.com/
Sara 3 Mar 2010 @ 11:09 am
Ive been struggling with bipolar disorder ever since I took the anti depressant Celexa after the birth of my son who is only two. I was one of the very little percentage that this happens to. It threw me into mania. It felt too good. I knew something was going on and went to the doctor who told me I deserved to feel good. After months of trying to be perfect, not sleeping, talking quickly, making rash decisions, overspending, and finally putting myself into dangerous situations, I started to actually hallucinate. I live in Wisconsin and ended up in Cicero Illinois with a felon. We were apprehended by the police and they decided to send me to Mc Neal Hospital. Thats where I was mis diagnosed and given drugs i didn’t need. I don’t blame them but it made the next few months a lot harder than they had to be. Now Im taking meds to keep me on an even keel. I just had to give up guardianship of my two little boys to my parents, and it hurts so much. In my mothers eyes I’ll never be good enough to get them back. She wont try to look past the stigma of mental illness. I was abandoned by my best friend, most of my family looks at me like i’m a loser and s psycho. I know one thing. If something like this happened to a loved one, Id research it and try to understand and be supportive. Not whisper behind their backs at family gatherings.
Nina 15 Mar 2010 @ 7:35 am
I love reading the latest information about depression. I just started a new blog about it where I can hopefully share this information with others. Check it out if you’re interested. http://www.reflectionondepression.typepad.com.
Holly 18 Mar 2010 @ 10:04 am
I just started reading http://hershadeofgreen.com
It’s about her struggles with depression and weigh issues. Should really check it out.
4-Lorn 12 May 2010 @ 3:42 pm
I urge everyone interested in blogs on depression to check out the newest one in the blogoshere. Very heartfelt and nicely presented. It’s worth the time.
Steve 15 Jun 2010 @ 3:46 am
Thanks so much for list of blogs. Here is mine — I just started blogging on my depression. I hope writing about my experiences can help people understand what it feels like to suffer from depression and help combat the stigma associated with this illness.
Depression Help 6 Jul 2010 @ 7:03 pm
The above blogs are greatly contributions to merely bothered people in terms of depression, health, career, life, and alike. Still, there wide arrays of blogs out there dealing directly with quandaries of our lives.
Vicki Lovell 7 Jul 2010 @ 5:23 am
Steve who commented 15 Jun 2010 @ 3.46 am, no link to your blog, I would like to read it, do you have a link please. Thank you, I am trying to get up to the courage to start blogging my own experiences but feel no one will be interested.
james 7 Jul 2010 @ 1:58 pm
HI Vicki,
Steve’s blog is at http://thegallowspole.wordpress.com/.
Regards,
James
Dr Janelle Sinclair 9 Jul 2010 @ 7:10 pm
Hi There my name’s Dr Janelle Sinclair and I have just started writing a blog on depression. http://www.breakingfreefromdepression.com/blog. I thought you might be interested.
I’m a biochemist, natural medicine practitioner and medical writer. My blog is about the physical and biochemical causes of depression- and how to treat them alternatives to antidepressants.
Thanks.
Janelle
Jessica McCallister 18 Jul 2010 @ 2:30 pm
http://changing-personal-habits.suite101.com/article.cfm/10-simple-tips-to-lessen-mild-depression
I hope you find this article helpful!
“10 Simple Tips to Reduce Mild Depression”
Regards, Jessica :)
Steve 19 Jul 2010 @ 4:49 am
Hi Vicki — sorry I forgot the link! Thanks James for posting it for me. Hope you’ll both keep looking in.
Thanks,
Steve