When You Have Mental Illness, Sometimes Self-Care IS A Shower

Because everything else feels impossible.

I’m no stranger to mental illness. I come by it honestly in my DNA, and I’ve also been privy to debilitating depression and anxiety that are situational.

My official diagnosis includes Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, with a touch of Depression to keep me honest, I suppose.

A few years ago, I was in the throes of a depression like I had never experienced before. Anxiety I knew how to manage, and my OCD was under control most days, but depression? It was mysterious to me. I didn’t even know I had it for probably a good solid year.

But, one day I realized that I had absolutely no drive left to do even the smallest little thing.

Gone was the joy for my work that I loved, and I took to spending most of my time in bed while my kids were at school.

Yet, somehow, it still didn’t click for me that I was depressed. Because anxiety was my familiar enemy. With depression, I just felt — tired and unmotivated.

I was a busy mom to three kids at the time, working a demanding job that required a lot of time, but also just a lot of mental energy. It had…