This is day 15 of 31 Days of Finding Joy in Depression. Yesterday, I shared about kids and depression. Today, let's discuss finding a mentor.
I happened to be working in a church when I started really dealing with my depression. I was in a unique position to have a slightly older coworker and friend who was experienced in counseling in a church setting and had dealt with depression personally. I immediately went to her and asked her to be my mentor. I asked her to walk with me on this journey. We met weekly at work to talk and share.
For some people, this person may need to be a professional counselor, a pastor, or someone with more experience in dealing with depression. For some, having a friend who has dealt with depression or dealt with people with depression is what you need. Whoever it is, it should be outside of your husband and immediate family. It should be someone who can look at you, your experiences, and your situation objectively. This is someone who can bring a new perspective for you. Someone who can show you how to look at things in a different way.
I am forever grateful for the year or so that I met with my mentor.
Do you have a mentor, counselor, or pastor that you see / have seen? How did this help your depression?
If you deal with depression, please comment and share your journey too. If you're a blogger, you can use the button and code below to share your story and link back on your blog. Feel free to leave links to your posts in the comments area.
I'm linking up with The Nester and others who are writing 31 posts this month on various topics. I'm not a doctor or a counselor and this is not intended to be medical advice. This is simply the story of my experience with depression.