 By Stu Whitley | Bio
So what is to be done about depression? Much the same, I think, as
rediscovering the rational self in a time when emotions hold sway. Not
an easy task, but it’s done all the time. One disciplines oneself to
think. The brain is exercised through reading, or better yet, writing.
Journaling is a powerful tool to self-discovery, and one doesn’t need
to be a Joseph Conrad to diarize one’s thoughts. What better way to
explore the inner self—the ossuary of our life’s experiences, events,
images, biases and tribal assumptions—than to set them down on paper as
influences for our present course?[ Read More]
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By Stu Whitley | Bio
Another balm to the damaged soul lies outdoors. The natural world, with
its fixed cycles of life, degeneration and recuperation, is a soothing
reminder that all passes eventually. There’s a harsher truth as well: the world is indifferent. It is
neither fair nor unfair; it simply is. Outdoors, if one is careless,
disaster can easily happen. Rushing streams and precipitous inclines
may be beautiful to contemplate, but they are neutral on the issue of
your vanity or self-indulgence. Yet taking ourselves closer to our
natural beginnings is a healing first step toward self-rediscovery.[ Read More]
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By Stu Whitley | Bio This is the second post in a series. Read the first post.
I had my own struggle with depression, brought about by a confluence of
events that seemed overwhelming. In spite of my rational training and
experience as a lawyer, I was completely disabled by my loss of
perspective. I could not see beyond the shadows of perceived (and real)
threats. A feeling of being trapped is the best way to describe the
sense of hopelessness and abandonment I was experiencing.
Fear inspires the ‘fight or flight’ response, as we all know. But the
very preoccupation with survival paradoxically can immobilize us, in
the way that an eland, seized at the nose by a lioness, yields to a
dominant force. Depression is truly a form of pseudo-death—an
ambulatory sort of coma. In my experience, ameliorative drugs such as
Paxil and Prozac don’t do much more than maintain the most minimal of
functioning, at a cost of any exuberance, sexuality or joy.
[ Read More]
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By Stu Whitley | Bio
No voice divine the storm allay'd,
No light propitious shone;
When snatch'd from all effectual aid,
We perish'd, each alone:
But I beneath a rougher sea,
And whelm'd in deeper gulphs than he
—William Cowper, The Castaway
There are probably more things at work in the human mind than we
will ever know. Too often the turmoil we confront in our daily lives
gets the better of
us, and we succumb to a depressed state for a day, a month, or perhaps
longer*. The above stanza brilliantly captures the sense of isolation,
despair and torment in the mind of someone who is incapable of seeing
the world with a balanced perspective. Cowper, who was not capable of
being diagnosed as such in the 18th century, probably suffered from
recurrent depression.[ Read More]
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