A friend and client of ours who has struggled with lifelong depression, recently asked me how I deal with depression. He knew that I had reason to be depressed this year. My oldest daughter has had serious breast cancer, another family member is facing cancer treatments and I lost a friend to cancer. It was a timely question because just a few days before I had had an epiphany.

I was feeling very depressed that week, living in the “gray” zone I call it (Gray used to be my maiden name—draw your own conclusions about my childhood). All of a sudden, it occurred to me that my depression was all about me. I was making my beloved husband’s life miserable and affecting all of the people around me. That was not my intention. The realization that it was not fair to anyone else that I maintain a depressed state, moved me quickly out of it. As I began to focus on the needs of others, the depression lifted and the gray zone turned once again into the Scolastico zone, a lovely place to be.

For someone who is clinically depressed, it is another story. Luckily, I have not had to face such an extreme challenge. But certainly for the kind of depression I have faced, remembering that it is not only about me, but it is also about the people in my life, has helped me lift the mood.

The Guides talk about healing depression in several of the books, most thoroughly in Healing the Heart, Healing the Body.