We really like Monty Don. Here is what he says about his experience of coping with depression and of course gardening, as recalled to the Daily Telegraph…
“My technique for coping with depression is shaky at best and decidedly ineffective half the time, but The first thing I do is to get outside. It doesn’t matter what weather or time of year it is, it is essential to go out of doors. Just walking is good but doing something is better. Gardening is the obvious thing, but it has to be a clearly defined, simple project, like weeding a particular bed or planting out some trays of seedlings. Whatever you do must be specific and modest in ambition. The idea is to forget about yourself and concentrate on the doing.
When things are very bad, I can’t do much but I do physically fight it. This last winter, I spent a week concentrating on keeping my head up. Sounds silly, but it took all my energy and it worked. Holding my head up made me look out, whereas everything longed just to drop forward and look down. The world makes one sad and angry, but the only cause of depression is yourself. So all the obvious things to make you like yourself do actually help. I cut my hair, take exercise, shave, make an effort to wear nice clothes. These things can be hard and appear hopelessly superficial, but they do help.
And best of all is to have someone who loves you.”
The getting outside is so right. About 10 or 11 yrs ago when I had my first “identifiable” bout with depression (didn’t know what was “wrong with me” before then), I nearly blacked out and was taken to a hospital for an overnight stay in October or November. By process of elimination, my own Dr figured out I was suffereing from depression and anxiety. Got on some fairly low level meds, but also got into good counseling with one who firmly believed that, although the depression does bring about chemical changes if it progresses, unhalted, for ong enought, the basic cause was “stinkin’ thinkin’”. The following January on a very cold day, there was an outdoor farm auction that my husband wanted to go to, but as he worked nights, he could not stay all through it, so I stayed for him. Being forced to stay out in the sunshine, even though very cold, caused me to end the day in the best frame of mind I had experienced in months. I realized that day that my tendency to go off and “nap” in a dark room quite often was aiding and abetting my depression, not helping me at all and vowed to force myself outdoors more.
Husband has been out of work now for nearly a year and a half, and both of us are battling depression again. I garden and keep a few small animals. It forced me outdoors and into some exercise. The more I am out, the better I feel. I am convinced that many of my aches and pains and fatigue are depression related.
I stumbled upon this page. Never have I been in the ‘presence’ of another true depressive. It seems if this is a comraderie place for me. Thanks for sharing.