Mental health issues have been in the media more these days – particularly the topics of depression and suicide. And of course, we’ve collectively had to say goodbye to a number of famous faces including Robin Williams, Kate Spade, and Anthony Bourdain, because they lost their battles with depression. In fact 16 million people have suffered from a major depressive event (NIH). Personally, I lost a very close friend to suicide just three years ago and I remember the tragedy of standing by and watching her struggle, trying to provide love and support, yet witnessing her lose her fight and ultimately dealing with the grief of her passing. I asked myself over and over what more I could have done and tried to understand how she felt. The reality is that I can’t fully understand because I’ve never felt that deep despair, thank God. I also know that there’s only so much we can do to prevent suicide – even though we should certainly do everything that we can.
Dee and I decided that we really wanted to do a show about this topic. We want to provide resources, support, and hope. To that end, we invited our girlfriend Tracy Limes back to help us understand the issue a little better. You will remember Tracy from our show called The Why of Behavior Change.
Tracy Limes is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) who has provided services for people in Woodstock, GA and surrounding areas for 16 years. Her clients include individuals, teenagers, and couples and she also runs therapy groups. Tracy loves her job and walking alongside others on their journey of personal growth and healing. She especially loves helping people with relationship issues and helping others move towards a more authentic life. Find Tracy at www.tracylimes.com or at her Facebook business page www.facebook.com/TracyLimesLPC and https://www.linkedin.com/in/
In this show, we asked Tracy if there’s been an increase in depression, the differences between how men and women experience depression, and how friends and family members can support those suffering. We also talked about the role of social media and the false-sense of connection and perfection it creates.
While this show is definitely not meant to provide professional medical advice for managing depression, it can serve as a means to understand this issue a little better. It’s an honest conversation. I hope you will give it a listen and give us some feedback. Listen to Episode 19: Why Are We So Depressed and What Can We Do About It? here or subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and more by searching for Southern Fried Girlfriends Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Swing on over to The Southern Fried Girlfriends Facebook page to chat about this topic, get some other resources, and look out for my Monday Chat Live there too!
