Tag Archives: depression

It’s hard to find composure in the face of the overwhelming human tragedy that has befallen our Venezuelan neighbours. Everything can disappear just so. The immediate impact is one thing, but the consequent hardship as rebuilding efforts begin is mind-boggling. Look at Haiti and Jamaica. Do we really grasp the …

A few months ago, I asked an elderly patient a question I ask dozens of times each week: “How are you doing?” Her blood pressure was acceptable. Her diabetes was reasonably controlled. Her cholesterol numbers looked reassuring. “I’m fine, doctor,” she replied. Then she hesitated. The smile disappeared. “I just …

Valentine’s Day performs romance very well. Restaurants fill with dodgy service and inflated prices. Florists thrive. Social media becomes an exhibition of curated devotion. Even the chronically indifferent develop an opinion about love. However, Valentine’s Day does not create loneliness. It exposes it. For most of the year we can …

Have you ever noticed that some people never get ill? They seem to be so perfectly constructed that no matter what dreadful ailments are soaring about the countryside, they remain untouched. Some years ago, I had written about how I had been plagued by chronic headaches since I was about …

“[…] Economists call it ‘presenteeism’. This means being physically at work but mentally checked out due to untreated mental health problems. In a small island economy, this is a productivity killer—difficult to quantify with hard data. “[…] Mental health budgets cannot be viewed as charity. That would be the wrong …

It is not surprising to hear Bob Marley’s Redemption Song around the time of our Emancipation Day celebrations. The lyrics rouse us to free ourselves from ‘mental slavery’, as advocated by Marcus Garvey. Some of us may not know that Marley knew his time on earth was limited while writing …

“[…] I have tried everything: therapy, school intervention, parenting strategies from every corner of the internet, gentle parenting, tough love, smothering him with affection, strict boundaries, reward systems. “Every time he crossed a line, I forgave him. Over and over. Told him we could start fresh, leave the past behind. …

Chapter 4: Had to manage my expectations… And what do you do when you are given life-changing news? Spiral? Lean on your support system? Self-isolate? Crash? Go in and out of depression? Well, I can safely say that I did all of the above. At different times, my needs called …

We don’t have words for everything. We never will. Such is the nature of language; such is the nature of change. All around us, things evolve, develop new characteristics. Things become extinct, disappear from memory. Someone from as recent as a century ago would find it difficult to follow a …

“[…] A thrill of hope! The weary world rejoices. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth…” Excerpt from the carol O Holy Night. 2024 has been a very tough year! The word ‘pining’ captures our mood after the battering of …

Former TV6 reporter and producer Charlene Stuart shares her story on living with depression: I grew up in Guyana and the earliest memories of my childhood were that my family was rich! The standard I used was this: my now deceased Dad bought us every single piece of wearable merch …

Last Sunday, Queen’s Hall was the venue for Dawad Philip’s Sunday with the Warlord, a play about the calypsonian Lord Blakie (Carlton Joseph). Blakie was perhaps best known for his two Road March wins, “Steelband Clash” (1954) and “Maria” (1962), and the play is a sort of narrative about his …