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RESPONSES AS POSTS
Filling the Emptiness Inside
Eagerness to get “back to normal” led to anything but
Eliza Lita’s description of the utter emptiness of feeling she experienced really resonated. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rising, and a creeping sense of dread. I knew this lack of feeling. And I knew what was coming.
When her therapist asked, “Do you know what not being affected by certain things is a sign of?” I had the answer. “Depression.”
It All Starts With Lack of Sleep
I found myself nodding in agreement as she spoke of being unable to sleep. She functioned in an exhausted haze, going through the rote obligations of her life.
That’s how depression manifested for me, as well. In my case, it was as a result of abdominal surgery. Specifically, a hysterectomy.
I spent about two months slowly recovering. At first, I was barely able to hobble from my bed to the couch and back. I couldn’t lift anything heavier than a hairbrush.
Gradually, I got better. It no longer hurt to move. I could sit up without needing to pull myself into position with my arms. I went back to work in the office. In the evenings, I resumed writing the book that I was under contract for.
