On my recent absence

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve last posted something here. Call it a case of writer’s fatigue (sometimes it seems like I’m telling different versions of the same story and I ask myself “What’s the point?”). I’ve shared my story, haven’t I? I’ve written about my own depression and anxiety, of mental health more broadly, of my experiences with medication and therapy, of how pop culture or the news impact mental health, and I’ve written about things that are perhaps only tangentially related to those topics. I’ve confessed, I’ve ranted, I’ve provoked and I’ve pontificated. And I needed a break. It wasn’t intentional, it was just… a break.

At first a few days went by without posting something new, but I was still checking in, looking at the blog’s stats or to see if there were new views or comments on anything. Then I stopped checking that too. It sort of just drifted away to the point that at my last appointment when my therapist asked me about my blog I didn’t have a ready answer. She asked whether the writing was still important. I thought about it. Has the blog run it’s course? Can I move on from it? After all, there are other terrific people out there with blogs on mental health. There are other advocates doing great work. Maybe this served it’s purpose, after all, it’s been over a year and a half since I’ve started blogging on a regular basis. Maybe I’ve said what I needed to.

Yet the more I thought about it though the more I realized how much I enjoy this, and, in some ways, how much I need it. The first post on the blog also functions as sort of a mission statement:

…to share my progress and my setbacks on this blog. I hope you’ll read it from time to time. I hope that if you are facing any of these challenges or negative cycles this will let you know that you’re not alone, and that there are people who want to help you.

That’s all still true. Just because there are others out there doesn’t mean my voice and my perspective aren’t important. Mental health is a very personal thing and short of experiencing issues with it yourself I think it’s fair to say your perceptions of mental health, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, etc. will be shaped either by those you know or what you see in the media and popular culture. So if I can play some part in educating someone about mental health, challenging assumptions or just providing a different perspective, then it’s important to me that I keep writing and sharing.

So I was gone. But now I’m back. It’s a pleasure.