Author notes

We're Back!

PBandJ

on April 18, 2015

It's been 4 months since I posted last. I'm sorry I've been "away" but it was somewhat unavoidable. It's not something I'm comfrotable talking about, but I've realized that the silence only compounds the stigma and misunderstanding.
You see, I suffer from depression and some days/weeks/months are better than others. The past few months have not been on the better side. The reason it's dificult for me to share my circumstances is that when I was growing up the general view on mental conditions was "oh, it's all in your head". (No, that really wasn't a pun.) Even today when I talk about depression to others, they want to know what I have to be depressed about or pointing out that there are others worse off than me. It's really not that simple. The best description I can think of is imagine everything in your life that matters to you, your home, family, job, hobbies are shining like a bright, sunny day. Depression is like heavy clouds over all of that. Everything becomes dark, shrouded in shades of dull grey. And the worst thing is for someone to tell you to "cheer up". I wish it was that easy.
My recent bout definitely affected my writing and my artwork. I just couldn't get anything going or it turned out like crap. Of course, that just made things worse.
The good news is that I'm on the upswing and just to prove it, I did the above picture as a bad joke. And you know what, I don't think it looks like crap.
I still have work to do, both on VotBP and my own health, but this is an important first step for me.
Enjoy!