Let's Talk About It: How Do You Manage Depression and/or Anxiety?

Discussion Thread

(Photo: Maria Korneeva)

Hi dear ones-

There’s been so much talk about how we are in an unprecedented mental health crisis. Things were already trending badly with the proliferation of social media beginning in the early 2010s. Then, the isolation of the pandemic threw gasoline on that fire.

I’ve been open about my mental health struggles in the past, and I’m always a little taken aback when people call me “brave” for doing so. I don’t feel brave, I feel like someone who wants to connect with and help others in the same boat, because it’s part of my own healing. I think this is like the way Alcoholics Anonymous works (I guess except for the anonymity part).

I’ve suffered from panic attacks since I was about 11, way before I knew what they were. (They might have even started happening before that.) It’s hard to know exactly why this happens to some people and not others. I have a large number of family and friends who love me. I discovered what I wanted to do with my life as a teenager and it has given me great fulfillment. I’ve written a New York Times bestselling book. I’ve traveled the world. I have a roof over my head and food in my belly. And yet I constantly struggle with not feeling good enough. I am not writing this to elicit compliments or sympathy or anything else. I am writing this because I want you to know that if you feel like this you are not alone.

I’ve also endured traumas. Some of which I’ve written about, some I don’t want to, and some I frankly can’t. But I’ve always come out on the other side. And even when I feel awful I try to take little steps to keep going.

But I know some of you are really struggling because you write me in desperation wondering what to do. I know what that feels like, as I have also written strangers when I’ve been in the exact same spot.

So because we have built this community of thousands of wonderful people, I decided that instead of writing another post about my own mental health tips, I would open it up to all of you for your contributions, because collectively they will be so much more valuable.

Also, if you can share what those around a person suffering can do to help, that would also be amazing, because I know a lot of you reading this have loved ones who are suffering right now and may feel paralyzed about what to do.

So, here we go. I’ll be here all day and night in the comments. Let’s talk about it:

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