In last month’s issue of Psychology Today, there was a great piece, Good Morning, Heartache. The thrust of the article is that we often need an idiosyncratic combination of approaches to treat our depression. While it is true that those who suffer from depression often share a common set of symptoms, we are all individuals with different propensities and abilities. Accordingly, we all need our own unique mix of stuff to do and not do to heal. As psychologist, Michael Yapko, notes in the article, “People do recover from depression. There are many ways in, and there are many paths out.” Dr. Yapko also wrote an excellent article for the Lawyers with Depression website.
One of the people featured in the Psychology Today article is a lawyer and former state senator from Massachusetts, Bob Antonioni. Bob was featured in an article last year which appeared in Newsweek magazine called, Men & Depression: Facing Darkness. Besides talk therapy and medication, his number one weapon for dealing with depression is sleep. “Sleep makes all the difference in the world to me,” he says. He can’t make early morning meetings, but so what. “The adjustments come,” he adds. “People are a lot more willing to be flexible than I originally have given them credit for.” While you might not be able to reschedule that 9 a.m. court conference, most of the time you will be able to plan a weekly schedule that allows your brain adequate rest. Psychologically, I need time in the morning to drink my Starbucks, read the morning paper and write out my tasks for the day. Take a look at how you schedule things. Make sleep a priority.
