Life Doesn't Stop When You're Depressed

I didn't realise I had depression. Someone else noticed before I did. I thought I was just stressed.

That's how it started for Lee Bradley, 54, after decades of ordinary life, ordinary stress, and a firm belief that men like him didn't have emotional problems.

This is his honest account of what happened next: the ordinary things that suddenly became difficult, the guilt of being unable to work, the fear of watching money run out, and the slow, uneven process of finding a way through.

This isn't a self-help book with ten easy steps. There's no miracle cure here, and no promise that what worked for the author will work for you.

What you'll find instead is an honest look at what depression can do to ordinary life — to your concentration, your relationships, your finances and your sense of your own worth — written by someone who was still living through it as he wrote it.

Inside, you'll read about:

• Why "we all get stressed sometimes" doesn't capture what depression actually feels like

• The guilt of being unable to provide for your family

• Facing financial pressure without letting it force decisions you're not ready to make

• Asking for help when everything in you resists it

• Finding something that makes your mind want to engage with life again

• Why getting better doesn't mean everything is suddenly fixed

If you're going through this yourself, or trying to understand someone who is, this book won't hand you easy answers.

But it will tell you the truth:

You're not the only one going through this, and today isn't forever.