Help Someone with Depression

Mindfulness Mindfulness is the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something. A mental state achieved by focusing awareness on the present moment while calmly acknowledging & accepting feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. If you could describe in one word what’s most important to you what would that word be? Happiness? Peace? Whatever that word you can better achieve it with Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way to rise about stress and trauma. Mindfulness has four key components. Paying attention – Listening, watching or considering what naturally exists. On Purpose – Intentionally increasing awareness of experience. In the present moment – Focusing on the here and now. Non-judgmentally – Being curious and objective about experience. Paths to Mindfulness include doing your best (but don’t seek perfection), approach the task you are doing right now as the most important thing you have to do, forgiveness, pay respect to the task you are doing right now, gratitude, make the decision on which task to do with faith and conviction (own your decision), accept who you are, love, trust, charity, discipline. Blocks to Mindfulness include judgement, holding grudge/assigning blame, inflated self-pride, low self-worth, fear, impatience, always wanting more (greed), suspicion, hoarding, jumping around (distraction). Exercise, meditation and yoga effectively promote Mindfulness.  ...

When Robin Williams and Depression were on their collision course (unbeknownst to me or to the public), I wrote, “Why I matter.” Robin Williams did not think his life mattered. After his suicide the world showed him it did. Why I matter. I matter because: The world would be worse off without me I hold the door open for an elderly lady I say “hello” to a perfect stranger I’m a good son I thank the worker at the shopping market for bagging my groceries I am loved I can help other people identify symptoms of depression I can teach those with anxiety and depression that mental illness can be overcome There are people who would be miserable if I left this world Depression teaches me gifts that I can use as “superpowers” There’s at least one thing in the world that won’t be done unless I do it I provide natural cures for depression You matter too.  The world is grateful that you are...

It is important for all of us with depression symptoms to reach out to others for help. Tell them we don’t want their pity. We just want their love and compassion. We’ll be glad to return the favor. Source: Natural Cures for Depression

A Day with Depression On October 20, 2013, I decided to make my third attempt at running the challenging fifty kilometer (thirty-two mile) trail race known as Bimbler’s Bluff in Guilford and Madison. The prior two attempts ended in sprained right ankles, although I managed to finish the race two years ago. Why did I decide to run again in 2013? Linda, my Fiancé, asked me. I wasn’t sure. I told myself that I had nothing to prove. I felt that, after having dropped out of the race last year at mile four, I remained faithful to my God believing he was testing my resolve. My failure in the race last year was a test and I passed. Now I felt that I was being called to run the race again. It dawned on me the morning of the race why I was really running. After my bad experiences in Bimbler’s Bluff #1 and Bimbler’s Bluff #2, fear dominated my thoughts on trail-running. Fear of injury on the windy, rocky terrain typical of any trail. Trails are meant to be hiked or walked not run. Fear is a calling-card of depression. If I give in to fear then depression wins. If depression wins then I lose. That’s how life with depression works. Fear, sadness, irritability and numbness want to take over our lives. The trick is to find a way not to let that happen. I sent a text message to Linda on the morning of the race. I decided to run and I knew why. To prepare for the race I performed ankle-strengthening exercises, and devised a strategy to run the trail at a slower, more deliberate pace to reduce the tripping and joint-twisting hazards. I decided to respect the Bimbler’s Bluff trail but not fear it. So I ran. While I ran I was conscious of my foot strikes, each one of the roughly forty thousand taken during this race. I met Amy around mile six…really I have no idea at what point of the race I met her. She was one of the six runners that got lost around mile twelve…again don’t really know what mile we got lost. We were all frustrated. After thirty minutes we finally found our way back on the Bimbler’s Bluff trail. For Amy, anger took the place of frustration. She wanted to be at the hospital with her dad who was recovering from double-bypass heart surgery. Amy’s dad has always been an advocate of physical fitness, being fit himself, so he encouraged her to run Bimbler’s Bluff. She was going to drop out of the race. Amy waded through a swamp of emotions – anger, despair, regret. I knew what to do. I suggested that Amy continue on to the next aid station then decide. I didn’t demand that Amy finish the race or “get in her face.” That’s not where she was at this moment. That would not have helped. That would not have respected Amy as a person. I knew, being an endurance runner, that Amy would have regretted not finishing the race without a good reason. I offered to run with her the rest of the way. She waited. I ran ahead. To my surprise, I saw Amy coming into sight. Amy caught up to me. She shared how after sitting down through a good cry she picked herself up and put one foot in front of the other, not back to the last aid station, but rather forward towards the finish line. As we ran together, Amy confided how there were signs of depression growing up. She gave her parents a “run for their money.” From time to time the depression, or something like it, reappears. She believes depression may have contributed to her emotional reaction to getting lost on the trail. If so, the gifts of depression also contributed to Amy’s resiliency and discipline to continue on in the race. Yes, depression has an upside too. I proved to be a great asset for Amy. Amy proved to be a great asset for me too. Amy and I continued on. In any endurance event, be it in life or on a trail, there come times when we simply can’t see a way forward. During these times, we may act like a cat chasing our tail, quit or just make other people miserable. It is important for us to find a way forward. That is the essence of truly living. That is quality of life. After seven-and-one-half hours on the trail, Amy and I finished the race, although she “kicked it in gear” and finished ahead of me. Amy hugged me...

My life with depression – http://youtu.be/k88RyOe9wMk   

Here’s the 9/2/15 appearance on Taboo Talk with Lady Charmaine Day http://www.blogtalkradio.com/taboo-talk/2015/09/02/taboo-talk-focuses-on-natural-spiritual-cures-of-depression-with-stephen-cuddy I appeared with NAMI officials on the “For the People” Connisseur media broadcast on 11/9/14 on The Fox 95.9, Star 99.9, WDRC 102.9. We talked about NAMI programs and hope for recovery of mental illness. We also talked about my mental illness. You can find the broadcast by googling “For the People” by John Voket. WTNH News Channel 8 filmed my run for cancer http://sportzedge.com/2014/06/14/cheshire-runner-jogs-10-hours-straight-to-raise-money-for-cancer/ Hartford Courant article on my ultra-run in support of The American Cancer Society Relay for Life event in Cheshire CT  http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/hc-cheshire-relay-for-life-20140611,0,5976434.story  American Cancer Society Press Release Local Runner Preps for 10 Hour Marathon to Benefit the Relay For Life of Cheshire  (Rocky Hill, CT) April 30, 2014 – Stephen Cuddy of Cheshire is helping to change the course of cancer this June by literally hitting the ground running in an all-day marathon to benefit the American Cancer Society. Cuddy, an experienced ultra-marathon runner — exceeding distances of the traditional 26.2 mile marathon—will be running for 10 hours throughout Cheshire on June 13th in an effort to bring awareness to cancer and raise funds for the Relay For Life of Cheshire.  This year’s Relay For Life of Cheshire will take place at Cheshire High School on June 13th beginning at 4pm. Cuddy is planning to end his 10 hour journey at the Relay For Life of Cheshire in time for opening ceremonies. To make his miles more meaningful, Cuddy is looking for fans of defeating cancer to join him during his day long marathon and donate to the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. Dollars raised through Relay For Life enable the Society to offer free programs and services that help people fight cancer with courage and optimism, while it provides day-to-day help, emotional support, and 24-hour information to help ease the cancer experience. Additionally, Relay contributions provide the Society with much-needed dollars to fund groundbreaking cancer research, educate people about the importance of cancer prevention and early detection and advocate for meaningful public health policies that benefit the community. Cuddy hopes this ultra-marathon will not only promote the Relay For Life of Cheshire, but raise awareness on the of the impact of physical activity and nutrition on early detection and prevention of cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, becoming physically active for at least 150 minutes each week, and eating a healthy diet in an effort to reduce your cancer risk. In May 2014, The Cheshire Herald ran a nice article on the Relay for Life event. Click here for National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) March 2014 newsletter article on a day on the trails On February 22, 2014, an interview on mental health aired on WYBC 94.3  FM radio. WABC radio segment on mental illness and violence. Mine is the last segment of the January 18, 2014 show. Go to WABCradio.com  then Podcasts then “The Saturday Cafe” with Laura Smith to play the show. http://www.wabcradio.com  TV broadcast “Coming Out of the Shadows…A Conversation on Mental Illness.” I am the last called-upon speaker in the show.  http://ct-n.com/ondemand.asp?ID=9801 …. New Haven Register article on depression’s toll among seniors – nhregister.com/health/20140105/depression-takes-toll-on-some-greater-new-haven-seniors … Pratt Whitney Military Engines Finance & You Newsletter – April 2014 My Life with Depression by Stephen Cuddy My name is Stephen Cuddy. I’ve had the good fortune to work at Pratt & Whitney for nearly thirty years. Yet, I’ve wasted much of my life under the weight of depression. I am now in recovery and spend my time counseling others on how not to waste theirs’. Here’s the story of my life with depression. During my early life, I was not aware of a mental illness. Prior to college, I felt inadequate, experienced low self-esteem and was indecisive and insecure. I did not attribute these feelings to an illness. Starting in my early twenties I noticed discrete symptoms of mental illness that appeared. In my thirties, I remember being in my backyard covered in a deep, dark haze. I felt like I had been carried off in a spaceship to some unknown, scary place. Episodes like that scared me out of my mind. Even so, I still did not associate these instances with a mental illness. I got married in my mid-thirties. I could not be present for my wife. I could not be present for myself. I just wanted it to end….and I didn’t care how. But it wouldn’t end. It couldn’t end. I had no idea how to end it. I could imagine what hell was like. That’s what depression felt like for me. Hell on earth….unimaginable torment. Not...