“They want to be a part of something—to experience real connection with others—but not at the cost of their authenticity, freedom, or power. Participants further reported feeling surrounded by “us versus them” cultures that create feelings of spiritual disconnection. When I dug deeper into what they meant by “spiritually disconnected,” the research participants described a diminishing sense of shared humanity. Over and over, participants talked about their concern that the only thing that binds us together now is shared fear and disdain, not common humanity, shared trust, respect, or love.” - BRENE BROWN (@brenebrown), from her book BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: THE QUEST FOR TRUE BELONGING AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“Hidden depression drives several of the problems we think of as typically male: physical illness, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, failures in intimacy, self-sabotage in careers... We tend not to recognize depression in men because the disorder itself is seen as unmanly. Depression carries, to many, a double stain—the stigma of mental illness and also the stigma of “feminine” emotionality... Depression in men—a condition experienced as both shame-filled and shameful—goes largely unacknowledged and unrecognized both by the men who suffer and by those who surround them. And yet, the impact of this hidden condition is enormous.“ - Terrence Real, from his book I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT: OVERCOMING THE SECRET LEGACY OF MALE DEPRESSION.

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“Symptoms of depression, like lack of motivation, can be mistaken for laziness. Recognizing these behaviors as symptoms can help you prevent feelings of guilt or self-doubt.” - Margarita Tartakovsky, MS, from her June 2023 article, “Laziness and Depression: Why Some People Get Them Mixed Up,” written for @psychcentralofficial.

“While many of the men I treat report the classic symptoms of overt depression, feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and despair, many more experience depression as a state of numbness, which is known in psychiatry as alexithymia. This experience of depression is not about feeling bad so much as about losing the capacity to feel at all. They are like the souls in the lowest rung of Dante’s Inferno, who were not seared in fire but frozen in ice.” - Terrence Real, from his book I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT: OVERCOMING THE SECRET LEGACY OF MALE DEPRESSION.

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“Never underestimate the power of being seen—it’s exhausting to keep working against yourself when someone truly sees you and loves you.” - BRENE BROWN (@brenebrown), from her book BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: THE QUEST FOR TRUE BELONGING AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“High lonesome can be a beautiful and powerful place if we can own our pain and share it instead of inflicting pain on others. And if we can find a way to feel hurt rather than spread hurt, we can change. I believe in a world where we can make and share art and words that will help us find our way back to one another. Then instead of yelling from afar and refusing to help each other when we’re struggling, we’ll find the courage to show up for each other.” - BRENE BROWN (@brenebrown), from her book BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: THE QUEST FOR TRUE BELONGING AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, joy, trust, intimacy, courage—everything that brings meaning to our life. An armored front sounds good when we’re hurting but causes us much more pain in the end. When we let people take our vulnerability or fill us with their hate, we turn over our entire life to them.” - BRENE BROWN (@brenebrown), from her book BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: THE QUEST FOR TRUE BELONGING AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“Manic-depression distorts moods and thoughts, incites dreadful behaviors, destroys the basis of rational thought, and too often erodes the desire and will to live. It is an illness that is biological in its origins, yet one that feels psychological in the experience of it; an illness that is unique in conferring advantage and pleasure, yet one that brings in its wake almost unendurable suffering and, not infrequently, suicide.” - Kay Redfield Jamison, from her book AN UNQUIET MIND: A MEMOIR OF MOODS AND MADNESS.

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. —JAMES A. BALDWIN, as quoted by BRENE BROWN (@brenebrown), from her book BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: THE QUEST FOR TRUE BELONGING AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“I do believe, however, that most of us can build connection across difference and fight for our beliefs if we’re willing to listen and lean in to vulnerability. Mercifully, it will take only a critical mass of people who believe in finding love and connection across difference to change everything.” - BRENE BROWN (@brenebrown), from her book BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: THE QUEST FOR TRUE BELONGING AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“But if I had to identify one core variable that drives and magnifies our compulsion to sort ourselves into factions while at the same time cutting ourselves off from real connection with other people, my answer would be fear. Fear of vulnerability. Fear of getting hurt. Fear of the pain of disconnection. Fear of criticism and failure. Fear of conflict. Fear of not measuring up. Fear.” - BRENE BROWN (@brenebrown), from her book BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: THE QUEST FOR TRUE BELONGING AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits

“High lonesome can be a beautiful and powerful place if we can own our pain and share it instead of inflicting pain on others. And if we can find a way to feel hurt rather than spread hurt, we can change. I believe in a world where we can make and share art and words that will help us find our way back to one another. Then instead of yelling from afar and refusing to help each other when we’re struggling, we’ll find the courage to show up for each other.” - BRENE BROWN (@brenebrown), from her book BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: THE QUEST FOR TRUE BELONGING AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE

#anxiety #depressed #depression #mentalhealth #sick #stroke #strokesurvivor #heartdisease #highbloodpressure #diabetes #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #selfloveisnotselfish #persistentnegativethoughts #finearts #student #photography #selfie #subvertedselfies #writing #nonfiction #visualdiary #art #portrait #wordportraits