Depression: Code Red

One coping method I learned when my life fell apart five years ago was self-care. I'd lost everything in terms of normalcy after years of job-induced stress that eventually drove me literally insane, and that's when I found myself plunked into therapy for the first time. I'll always remember my therapist suggesting concrete things to do, such as "change your clothes, try a new lipstick." External, cosmetic things like that, no matter how bad I felt. The idea was to physically sort of nudge myself out of the depths. I loved my therapist's example. She said "I just got a hair cut. Whenever I get a haircut I feel like a new woman." For a moment, we looked at each other across her desk. A moment of silence. She wore a hijab. I'd never seen her hair. I'd have to take her word for it. In the moment, I understood that these self-care acts aren't for the world. It isn't vanity. It is for me. Just for  me. There is something to it, because five years later, when I'm feeling extra challenged, I think of her and I act on this wisdom. Today I got new hair. It's Feria Whatever-was-on-sale-red. I like it. It's something. 💇