How Gratitude Helped Me Grow from Depression

Have you read "You Are A Badass" by Jen Sincero? You should, it’s an uplifting book if you are not feeling 100% pumped about yourself (unless you hate swearing in the printed word in which case do not buy this book). Jen was the first person who introduced me to the concept of "The Universe" and as someone who has tried out a few religions and not found one that quite fit I really liked the concept.

Turning to "The Universe"

"The Universe" is all-encompassing and uniting. I see everyone with psoriasis as my sister and brother, so thinking of myself as a child of the Universe works for me, even if it makes me sound a bit hippy. I have come across the concept of asking the Universe for things many times since reading the book, but asking the universe to take away my psoriasis seems a bit unrealistic.

Recently I experienced my first bout of depression (associated with my psoriasis), so I thought embracing gratitude would be a good start. By good start, I mean a good starting place because when I started the whole gratitude thing, I was terrible at it. Every morning I tried to be grateful for three things when I woke up before I got out of bed. These three things ended up being the same every morning. Caffeine, the health of my children and the internet. Every morning (unless I fell back to sleep).

Getting better

Then I got better at it. It turns out it doesn't need to be this whole event in itself, being grateful for things as they occur is just as good. The smell of warm bread, the sticky kiss from a toddler, the thank you message someone sent you unexpectedly. I found that this helped the negative thoughts I was having - and noticing the small special things every day helps clarify those things that are important in life. Even if you have to hide in the bathroom to do it (for me that's with a cup of tea and dark chocolate).

Turning online for support

The other thing that gratitude helps me with is making decisions. Now I know what I am grateful for, I can make more informed decisions about how I spend my time. This is how gratitude links into the whole Universe thing. I realized that I was grateful for the men and women who take time out of their lives and write about psoriasis on the internet. This is because I have a terrible relationship with my dermatologist and have no psoriatic friends in my local area to talk to about psoriasis. People writing online about their experiences help me make more informed decisions, they help me feel normal, and so they help me ask for help and be more open.

This is how I ended up talking to you today. I was grateful for information online, and I wanted to give back. I had been tweeting about psoriasis for some time but had not thought of myself as a writer. Writing about psoriasis has been a gradual thing, I was approached by the European Medical Journal initially, and in truth, I was not ready and ignored it, even though the Universe was trying to give me a gentle shove in the right direction.

Using writing as an outlet

It was not until Instagram banned the psoriasis hashtags earlier in the year that I ended up writing. I was so outraged at this infringement that I pitched journalists at local news outlets, and I got back in contact with the EMJ, and thankfully they were still interested. I ended up writing a piece called "The Impact of Social Media on Psoriasis Care" and enjoyed writing it so much I started to write more.

I still show gratitude for the internet every day, and for caffeine. Without them, I would be asleep in bed by now but I am happy here with you, and again, without sounding too hippyish, I am grateful for that also.