Living in clutter and how it affects my depression

Why and how have I allowed this to happen? I can’t believe my eyes at the sight that I have been living with for the last 5 years. Clutter and junk everywhere! Piles of papers, stacks of books, my kitchen counter covered with you name it, stuff stacked upon stuff, and it is increasingly narrowing my pathway around my rooms. I can’t get to things to dust or vacuum.

One of my problems is....I have a studio size living area. Next problem is that I bring IN more stuff into my living area than I have the room for. Remember the familiar saying, “A place for everything...and everything in it’s place”

Well, after months of tripping over, knocking over, running into, and pushing aside stuff....I had had it!!! My depression loomed it’s ugly head in protest. I had one of the most horrible depression days that I have ever had. Not to mention that it was also the month of December....my worst time of year for seasonal depression (SAD).

Fortunate for me on that day, I was in the company of a good friend who is extremely good at organizing. After my crying had finished....we talked about it and she offered to come to my apartment and help and teach me to organize it.

She has been an answer to a prayer. She has taught me so much and I am beginning to feel hopeful that there is a light at the end of my messy tunnel....a chance for me to again live in a nice neat clean living area.

She learned these home organizational skills to de-clutter from a website that she visited, called “Flylady.com”. Fly...stands for Finally loving yourself. It is a wonderful site...very easy if you take baby-steps at the beginning of learning to rid your space of clutter and dirt.

If you suffer from the above problem too, click on this link to learn from Flylady. http://www.flylady.com/

Blessed Mr. Sun

Thank goodness the sun is back out after our several days of rain storms. Lack of sunlight sure does a number on my depression. I am realizing this more and more as I age. I sure have taken the sun for granted all my life. I have never fully understood or appreciated the great and many health benefits the sun so freely offers, by the hand of God.

I must try harder to go outdoors each day and sit and soak up the healing rays of Mr. Sun, and also to remember to deep breathe so that I give my body cells more oxygen.

My Depression...and does anyone care, anyway

I am grateful for our much needed moisture...it has been constantly raining and cloudy for a couple of days...but for a person that has seasonal depression (SAD),lack of sunshine makes a very great difference in how they are feeling. Maybe today because it is such a down day for me, that I have these feelings. After all, when you are depressed, you are only feeling sorry for yourself....right?

But where are some of my so-called friends? I need a true friend….someone who cares about ME. Is it that when others are around people that have depression, that it is not a fun place to be…they would rather be with FUN people?

Where is the TRUE charity? Does it only lie with helping those who have just had surgeries, or are dying from cancer, or have just had a baby? Depression is an illness, too. And for me….just simply finding something that will take my mind off of the sad thoughts for awhile, IS GREAT THERAPY.

Aren’t we, who suffer from depression, just as much in need of help, compassion, and contact from others, as those listed above?

I feel that it would be extremely therapeutic just to receive a phone call often, from a friend, wondering how I am doing. Better yet, it would be great for someone to say to me… “how about getting out and going to the store with me”, or “how about going to a movie”, or “let’s go out for lunch”. NOW THOSE ARE THE TRUE FRIENDS. And God bless them!

Hanging out in la-la land....aka the internet!

In actuality my depression is always a part of me...but in the fall and winter season it manifests itself more and even within this season I have my good and bad days. So I do various things to help that, as stated in these previous blog posts.

I have discovered that it helps me to go to la-la land for awhile when I am very down. I try to talk myself out of my sad feelings but sometimes I just need to go somewhere with my mind for awhile. For me, getting away or diverting my thoughts to something else usually helps a great deal.

Not everything works for me. When I am sad and melancholy, I have a hard time getting interested in books, organizing my surroundings, doing household tasks, working on projects, and the such.

I have a new found ability, or talent if you want to call it that. I love to write. That helps me. I love to watch movies. I love to get on the internet. We are all different and so we all have to find what helps and works for us.

Hanging out in la-la-land...aka the internet, is not all that bad. Some more healthy people will think it a big waste of time and that it will bring evil spirits. But the internet is chock full of helpful, interesting, fun, educational, and healthy information. It is a great learning place...and I am thinking only of the good, clean uplifting stuff. Educationally...the internet is unending in it’s resources. Whatever you want to know and learn about can be found in this form of la-la land...a temporary vacation spot for the sad, melancholy mind.

Different Types of Depression and Disorders

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Bi-Polar

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

.......and more


There are so many different types of depression and other mind disorders that have been diagnosed and treated. I have family members and friends that have gone to specialists about their depression and have been told that they have a certain type. Most of them are on medications for it.

I have never gone to a doctor about it...I do not take medications, nor do I want to. I have always seemed to find a way to deal with it myself. I have used prayer, concentrated effort, herbal formulas, and my self-discovered relaxation therapies that I share in this blog.

My form of depression appears to be Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Though depression can hit me at any time of the year, it mostly occurs at the beginning of Fall and ends in Spring. During this time of year my exposure to sunlight is diminished, causing my biological clock to run slower. Our biological clock regulates our mood, sleep, and hormones. The biggest cause of SAD is lack of sunlight.

I understand the common signs of this and other forms of depression to be somewhat similar: Sadness, anxiety, irritability, loss of interest in usual activities, withdrawal from social activities, inability to concentrate. Other symptoms might include extreme fatigue and lack of energy, increased need for sleep, craving carbs, and increased appetite and weight gain.

Most people have many windows in their house and so they receive some light from the outdoors. The studio size place where I live does not have windows and so I need a better source of light other than regular ceiling lighting and table lamps.

I have remedied the lack of natural light in several ways. I have purchased several full-spectrum lights. These lights are what they call white light....they mimic closely the light that comes from the sun. Some of these lights are table lamps, and some are floor lamps. I have several of them distributed around my living area, and I use these special lights along with my regular lighting.

Another way which is important in gaining extra natural light is to go outdoors and spend some time out in the sun and fresh air. Take in good deep breaths of fresh air through the nose and let it out slowly through the mouth. This clears the system and brings in fresh oxygen. The longer spent outdoors, the better.

Exercise is also important to help tone down and ease depression and stress. It clears the mind and also brings in more oxygen to the body. Going for a good walk outdoors can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.