Coming in September! This is our very own Eagleheart. Please check out her book at www.eagleborntofly. I read it this month and was delighted to see that it also relates to helping others who are depressed.

WELCOME EAGLE!

For anyone struggling with depression, or struggling to understand loved ones who suffer from it, Eagle Born to Fly provides a compassionate insight into the maze of dark and mangled thinking that often characterizes chronic depression. Eagle Born to Fly speaks empathy, hope and encouragement to anyone who wrestles to find meaning and life from within their own darkness of depression.

Despite a reasonably normal and happy childhood, Sharon spent most of her life struggling with despair and feelings of failure. Her teen years and early twenties were constantly shadowed by chronic (and undiagnosed) low-level depression (dysthymia). A major breakdown in the early 1980’s forced her to finally seek help through counselling, medication and even brief periods of hospitalization for the growing suicidal tendencies that refused to go away.

After yet another debilitating bout of depression in early 2002, Sharon spent many months intensely concentrating on “rewiring her attic”, finding her way through the maze of mangled thinking that had crippled her for so long, coming face to face with the lies that lay buried deep beneath those dark and distorted thoughts. She countered each lie with the truth of her self-worth, diligently and compassionately rewriting her internal dialogues. In the process Sharon learned how to manage her symptoms well enough to be able to find more meaningful life beyond the fatigue and anxiety that have plagued her for most of her life.

In Eagle Born to Fly, Sharon recounts that process, weaving together the three strands of her chronological, spiritual and emotional evolvement. She uses an exquisite blend of honest poetry, powerful dreams and compelling narrative to tell the story of her journey through that darkness, gently and compassionately leading the reader through that lonely labyrinth of self-rejection into a hopeful, more contented lifestyle. The result is a triumphant story of hope and survival that shows how courage and truth can win out over despair, empowering the Eagle Born to Fly within each of us to find our own piece of the sky and soar above the chaos to find meaningful life beyond the lostness of our own mangled thinking.

Sharon was born in 1955 and raised in small-town Ontario. She has worked as a preschool teacher, government clerk, and computer network administrator. Now retired, Sharon spends her days pursuing hobbies she’s never had time to enjoy before: traveling, gardening, reading, writing, enjoying her husband André’s culinary creations and celebrating her “life beyond depression”.

So let's get some of the admin stuff out of the way first.

1. SPECIAL OFFER: During the month of September only, if you contact me directly at eagleborntofly@magma.ca I am happy to offer my book at a reduced price of $12US ($14CDN). This price DOES INCLUDE shipping. When you email me, let me know who to personalize the book for, and your mailing address and I’ll get it out to you ASAP, usually in the next day’s mail.

2. DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. I have no psychological or medical training whatsoever.

Eagle Born to Fly is my personal story, the story about my lifelong struggle with depression. I am no expert on anything except my own life.

These are purely my own experiences, insights, thoughts, opinions and beliefs and SHOULD NEVER BE SUBSTITUTED FOR THE WISDOM AND EXPERT ADVICE of those more experienced and professionally trained than I am. Nor should anything said in this forum be substitutes for your own wisdom and knowledge and common sense about you. Nobody knows you better than you know yourself.


3. BRING IT ON: QUESTIONS AND ISSUES YOU’D LIKE TO DISCUSS

Please feel free to ask here, or PM me with ideas for topics you’d like to see discussed here this month. I've struggled with depression for over forty years and have managed to find some constructive ways to manage the brainfog, mangled thinking and inner chaos of depression.

I look forward to hearing the insights and wisdom of so many others of you who have also suffered and continue to suffer from depression.

Thank you Dotsie for your invitation to be the Featured Author here this month. It's a scary proposition, but with depression such an epidemic these days, it's an important health concern.

One of the reasons I wrote Eagle Born to Fly is because most books on depression are written from the therapeutic perspective. In my experience, they often made me feel worse and even more of a failure, because I wasn’t “healed” by the end of the book or by following the various authors’ “10 steps to full recovery”.

I wanted to write a book on depression from the inside perspective. I wanted “Eagle Born to Fly” to be a compassionate companion for anyone else struggling with depression, or struggling to understand loved ones who suffer from it.

So in Eagle, I’ve tried to provide a very personal glimpse into the scary maze of dark and mangled thinking that often debilitates those of us who suffer from depression. By allowing the reader to enter my own journey through that maze, my hope is that Eagle will speak hope and encouragement to anyone else who is stuck in their own quicksand of mangled thinking.

There are four main themes that you will probably see weaving through here over the next month:

1. You are not alone.

2. God has not abandoned you.

3. You are more than your depression: don't let depression define the totality of who you are.

4. Depression is a bona fide illness...be compassionate with yourself! Compassion for self may be our best map out of the darkness.

Glad to have you as the feature Eagle. Sounds like an interesting month ahead! My mom suffered/suffers with depression big time. She's gotten much better lately.

I have been lucky as I know it runs in families.

I look forward to your information.

Thanks TVC!

Depression does run in families. When I was hospitalized in the early 80's, the psychiatrists repeatedly asked me for my family history. I didn't understand why it was so important and didn't have any relevant info to give them, (which, BTW, frustrated them, which in turn made me feel as if I had let them down).

It was only a couple of years later that I found out from my aunt that my grandfather had suffered with depression for much of his life. Then upon further investigation (and nobody back then wanted to talk about it at all) I discovered that there was fairly extensive history of depression/mental illness on BOTH sides of my Mom and Dad's families.

Knowing that family history did help to explain my early predisposition to depression...and is helping my young niece who also now suffers from depression.

[ September 01, 2005, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: Eagle Heart ]

Eagle Heart, you bring up a topic very close to me. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with Bipolar. I went through a very long episode of depression. One where I ceased to live and only existed in a life that seemed to have forgotten me and continued on around me, but didn't include me. I felt like I was adrift in a sea of confusion and dispair.

I look back on that part of my life and wonder how I ever survived. How did I make it through? And, I realize that my husband took care of me and helped me through it, while I relied on a very caring and supportive doctor who helped me try various medications and didn't give up on me until we found the right combination.

I look forward to hearing your insight and about your courageous battle.

Vicki, depression is so confusing. It's as if our minds get mired in quicksand in the midst of a blinding blizzard that never ends. It's always a joy and cause for proud celebration when someone survives depression and thrives beyond that despair. I'm so glad you found the right combo of meds...bipolar can be so tricky to treat because the meds have to be customized for each person's sensitivies and metabolism.

For a long time after that first major breakdown in the 80's, I was terrified of becoming depressed again. Every time I was "down" or "blue", I panicked. I didn't know hubby at the time, but did have a very patient, supportive GP as well as a pyschiatrist who really clicked with me and genuinely cared. They had to teach me what was "normal" for me and what my particular danger signs and triggers were. The psychiatrist called them "road markers". That was twenty years ago, but I still use those road markers as my guidelines.

Hello Eagle! So glad to see you as the FA. You will help many with your oh-so-real journey from depression to recovery. Even though there may not be a permanent cure for depression, you are proof positive that depression can be managed. Vicki, I'm glad you made it throught that awful long depression. I look forward to checking in here daily! Love and Light, Lynn

Eagle, I haven't yet read your book, but it sounds not only extremely helpful, but also an interesting read.

I wondered if you explored the mind body connection and if you benefitted from pharmaceuticals, exercise, herbal products or diet during your recovery?

Congratulations on being September's Favorite Author. I must be a great honor to be the favorite of this illustrious group. I plan to immediately start reading.
smile