Writing Your Way Through Depression

Stopping Writing Distractions: A Life... Write Your Story Backwards

Writing Your Way Through Depression

Christy Birmingham The reasons why people choose to write can vary widely. For me, writing has been an integral part of my healing journey over the past three years. I was in a deep depression when my therapist suggested I begin to write my feelings down in a journal as a way to work through them. Over time, the writings became poems, and those poems became the basis for my book Pathways to Illumination.

The Writing Begins

At that time, writing was a scary venture. To write down my thoughts meant that I had to acknowledge them. It was so much easier to be numb than address any feelings. I knew it was probable I would have realizations about my toxic relationship that recently ended and my suicide attempt, when I began to journal.

My therapist did not assign a certain writing style, but she did prompt me with questions to answer in my journal. As I began to write my answers, I did have realizations. I began to explore why my self-confidence was extremely low. I was face-to-face with the assumptions I held about both my body and my surroundings; I had tried to avoid those thoughts for so long.

Along the way, I regained my love for poetry. I had not written poetry lately, although it had been a love of mine throughout my school years. I started to experiment with the lines and found new perceptions emerge as I continued with my therapy sessions. I focused on myself again; it had been a long time since I had allowed myself to do so.

I had another powerful realization. The issues I dealt with were bigger than my life alone. Other women had been, and potentially were still, in abusive relationships similar to the one I experienced.

Realization Leads to Publishing

That light-bulb moment was my motivation to continue to write poetry, in hopes to put together a published collection designed to help women. Depression, anxiety, and abuse were the themes I delved into with my writing. Slowly, word by word, I created the poetry collection. I healed as I wrote about a woman who still held pieces of hope even after her life shattered around her. I tied in parts of my own experiences, although the book is not a memoir.

I healed so much as I wrote the poetry book. The cathartic nature of writing is evident, whether one chooses to journal, essay, pen poetry, or other style of choice. I worked through many feelings as I wrote Pathways to Illumination and I hope readers understand that they are not alone. I hope the book comes to readers as a warm blanket on a quiet day, with its comforting text and photography.

Meet Christy

Christy Birmingham is a freelance writer, author and poet. She lives in British Columbia, Canada, where she enjoys walks on local trails and time relaxing with close family and friends. She shares her experiences about depression, anxiety, and abuse to help others who may suffer. Enjoy more of her poetry at Poetic Parfait and connect with her on Twitter.

This blog post is Copyright Christy Birmingham 2013. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without the author’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-use if it is for a commercial venture.