It’s true, as much as some may believe it, as much as people tell me and I try to tell myself at times, sometimes, that’s just not who I am. I was inspired to share my story after reading The New Face of Depression: The “Strong” Black Women on blackdoctor.org.
These past couple of weeks has been one of those times. It started with a break-up in mid-March, which I was fine with for about a month, but then things begin to spiral. No, I wasn’t all depressed and sad over him, we’re not going to give him that much credit, but I was sad, depressed and full of anxiety. And to say “was” is maybe going too far.
My therapist, yes, I’m in therapy, I’ve been seeing her since the end of 2016, recommended that I go on anxiety and anti-depressant meds. So yep, I’m on medication. I was diagnosed with moderate depression. She recommended that I take a couple of days off to just be, and I took her advice and ran with it. I took an entire week off. And back to the therapist really quickly, not only am I seeing her twice a month, I also attend a women’s group once a week. So there I’ve dispelled all the myths of a strong black women. I see a therapist, go to an additional women’s support group and I’m on meds.
Next blog post, I’ll share what brought on this wave of emotion after a month of being single. Again, it wasn’t all about him. Until then, just be free….
P.S. As I write this I can’t believe that I’m allowing myself to be this open to scrutiny. Vulnerability isn’t one of my strong suits, but, I gotta heal, and maybe, I’ll help someone else along the way. So here goes…