‘Eu tenho um cachorro preto e seu nome é depressão’

[Music] I had a black dog his name was depression whenever the black dog made an appearance I felt empty and life just seemed to slow down he could surprise me with a visit for no reason or occasion the black dog made me look and feel older than my years when the rest of the world seemed to be enjoying life I could only see it through the black dog activities that usually B me pleasure suddenly ceased to he liked to ruin my appetite he chewed up my memory and my ability to concentrate doing anything or going

anywhere with the black dog required superhuman strength at Social occasions he'd sniff out what confidence I had and Chase it away my biggest fear was being found out I worried that people would judge me because of the shame and stigma of the black dog I was constantly worried that I'd be found out so I invested vast amounts of energy into covering him up keeping up an emotional lie is exhausting black dog could make me think and say negative things he could make me irritable and difficult to be around he would take my love and bury

my intimacy he loved nothing more than to wake me up with highly repetitive and negative thinking he also liked to remind me how exhausted I was going to be the next day having a black dog in your life isn't so much about feeling a bit down sad or blue at its worst it's about being devoid of feeling all together as I got older the black dog got bigger and he started hanging around all the time i' chase him off with whatever I thought might send him running but more often than not he'd come out on

top going down became easier than getting up again so I became the good at self medication which never really [Music] helped eventually I felt totally isolated from everything and everyone the black dog had finally succeeded in hijacking my life when you lose all joy in life you can begin to question what the point of it is thankfully this was the time that I saw a professional help this was my first step towards recovery and a major turning point in my life I learned that it doesn't matter who you are the Black Dog affects millions and

millions of people it is an equal opportunity Mongrel I also learned that there was no silver bullet or magic pill medication can help some and others might need a different approach alog together I also learned that being emotionally genuine and authentic to those who are close to you can be an absolute GameChanger most importantly I learned not to be afraid of the back dog and I taught him a few new tricks of my own the more more tired and stressed you are the louder he barks so it's important to learn how to quiet your mind

it's been clinically proven that regular exercise can be as effective for treating mild to moderate depression as anti-depressants so go for a walk or a run and leave the mut behind keep a mood Journal getting your thoughts on paper can be cathartic and often insightful also keep track of the things that you have to be grateful for the most important thing to remember is that no matter how bad it gets if you take the right step talk to the right people Black Dog Days can and will pass I wouldn't say that I'm grateful for the

black dog but he's been an incredible teacher he forced me to re-evaluate and simplify my life I learned that rather than running away from my problems it's better to embrace them the black dog may always be part of my life but he'll never be the Beast that he was we have an understanding I've learned through knowledge patience discipline and humor the worst black dog can be made to heal if you're in difficulty never be afraid to ask for help there is absolutely no shame in doing so the only shame is missing out on life [Music]