• Surviving Social Distancing with Depression

    It’s not a secret that I live with depression. As an introvert, social distancing is great – to a degree. However, being alone most of the time means I’m left alone with the thoughts in my head all day. (I’ve been warned that my mind is a dangerous neighborhood, and I shouldn’t venture there alone.)

    In order to deal with the social distancing aspect of COVID-19, I’ve created some rules to help me manage my depression:

    1. Shower every day.

    2. Brush your teeth twice a day.

    3. Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize. Every day. No matter what. This rule has served me well for 40-something years. I’m not going to fuck up my skin now.

    4. Put on fresh clothes each day. PJ pants or athletic shorts are fine.

    PJ Pants!

    5. Put on jeans to walk the dog. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with going out in PJ pants. My PJ pants are men’s medium and drag about 4 inches on the floor. I am not going to destroy them by dragging them around on the sidewalk.

    6. Eat a mostly balanced diet, well more balanced than not.

    7. Open the blinds every day. There is a sun out there.

    8. Do whatever workout Coach David assigns. (I’m training to do my first Ironman in August, and anticipate it will go on as scheduled.) It doesn’t matter if I don’t like it. As Rocky Kees used to say, “I didn’t ask you to like it. I told you to do it.”

    9. Try to talk with a real person each day – by phone or from at least 6 feet away.

    10. No more than 2 Zoom-based events per day. I have enough challenges with the voices that reside in my head. Pumping in too many extra ones will make me bat shit crazy.

    11. When in doubt, wash your dishes. Doing a simple task can make me feel like I’ve accomplished something worthwhile.

    12. It’s ok to do the bare minimum. Every morning, I create a to-do list on my white board. If I only have energy to do the bare minimum, and I need to spend the afternoon taking a nap, that’s ok.

    These are the rules that are helping me survive mostly sheltering in place. Hopefully they’re helpful to you too.

    Legal services are considered essential, but I’m limiting my contact with the outside world, trying to do my part to flatten the curve.