I was unprotected, like a raw nerve, and barely making it through the day. I felt numb, irritable, unorganized, and hopeless…a combination that I often experienced throughout the years. However, I was growing tired of those feelings and wanted relief, even if it meant taking antidepressants for the rest of my life.
That realization was a hard pill to swallow (pun intended). Although as a counselor I already knew that depression warranted just as much treatment as a physical illness, it wasn’t until I found myself on the other side of the couch that I truly understood how true this fact was.
Thankfully, through support from my friends, family, and a really good psychiatrist (smile), I have learned not to blame myself for how I am but to grow to embrace and care for who I am.
As I wrote in my book of poems that was inspired by my battles with depression, “We are all deliciously imperfect and must learn how to embrace our faults and flaws along with every clever, joyful, beautiful, ingenious morsel of our being. If we were perfect, there would be no need for personal growth and evolution, no lessons from which we can learn. The only way we can reach our Higher Self is through growth…and that is a journey worth taking.”
Fayth Hope is a singer, writer, and human services professional from Birmingham, AL. Her book, Deliciously Imperfect: Poems, Prose, and Musings, is available through www.FaythHope.com/merch.