I have two things I’m going to blog about today. 

The first is what is going to become (if I get the response of course) my weekly Thursday blog, like a column but it is going to be up to YOU what I write about.

You may or may not know I’m pretty good at using cliché.  I am a walking romantic cliché so I’ve decided to call the column Clichéd J and will try and incorporate one each week.  So the prompt... one word only.  It can be whatever you like and I will try and write something about it, fictional or non-fictional.  If you would like to nominate a word for me to select from (this is of course if I get more than one prompt or any for that matter) then either comment on this blog or contact me via email.

The second thing today, is about writers I know.  Now it would be very re-miss of me not to tell everyone about my good friend, writer buddy and beta reader, Tom Sharp or T S Sharp as he is calling himself.  He has a short story on Amazon called Unfamiliar Country.   I have read it and like Seven Seconds it is brilliant, well I think it is anyway.  It is a unique, dark tale which surprised me with the ‘big bang’ ending.  Tom manages to make excellent writing look easy and he is an inspiration to me.

So that is it for Topical Thursday or what is going to become Clichéd J, if I get those entries of course!

First a thank you to everyone who has supported me.  It has been surprising and exciting to have Spoilt doing well.  I’m back on track and ready to go.  Perhaps my topic for Thursday is fitting.

 

Depression.

The word itself is depressing.  As if the blue coloured misery isn’t enough.  Elton John said ‘I guess that’s why they call it the blues’ but I’m not exactly sure why the colour that also represents the sky, eye tone and most boy’s favourite is associated with this condition.  Black is something that I feel when the claw of depression digs into my chest and hollows it out.  Perhaps the song is more about break-up blues than the ‘real’ blues.

So why am I blogging about this?  It is something that many people suffer from but go undiagnosed, untreated and unnoticed.  Suicide rates are far too high.  Depression is a vicious spiral that many people cannot climb out of.  Mine first came in the form of ‘post-natal’ but perhaps it was always there.  I sought help because of my children.  Many people don’t.  To think it is a chemical imbalance, which can (not always) be ‘fixed’ with medication and then therapy is astounding really.  A simple incorrect level of serotonin.  I am compartmentalising of course and there are many severe cases and other disorders such as bipolar where there is no quick medical fix but like any other medical condition there are ways to find help.  I sincerely wish that everyone who suffers sought aid as I did.

But this isn’t just about the form it appears in or how it affects my life but more about how it influences my writing.  Does depression sometimes go hand in hand with angst in writing or even with the muse in some way?  For me I have to say, perhaps, for I find the more happiness I feel and the less I have to chase away the blues, the less I write.  I know of many writers who suffer from the blues and I wonder if it is an outlet for them.  I do know that a thought diary or journal is encouraged to help sort out negative thoughts, to pour out the darkness onto paper so perhaps I inadvertently started to write because of depression.  It looks as though I have it to thank in an ironic way.  I wonder how many writers suffer and do not know or are writers because of it. 

This blog is mainly a plea to anyone who thinks they may have a love one suffering to help them find the light.  I know what it is like to be in the bottom of the abyss and I am glad I sought help and found solace in my writing.