It is only in recent years that I have been visited by the black dog. I cannot remember it ever happening before about five years ago. I got very depressed at that time and wouldn’t go out or do anything. Counselling helped and I know how to deal with it. But recently it has happened more often and I am trying to find out why this is.
Up until about five or six years ago I was still very active and ran workshops and groups for various subjects. I have run a family history group for a very long time and that enabled me to meet others with similar interests. I also ran groups where we learned about colour, the tarot, numerology and other similar things.
Today I am much less mobile and have to use public transport to get anywhere and I do find this hard as buses never connect properly and you spend a lot of time waiting at bus stops. Every few months the bus companies change the timetables and this makes it even worse and also confusing. I do have projects on the go, for example, I am working with a group of other volunteers on a project with the local museum. I also have my own projects on family and local history to work on and possibly may start to run a family history group here where I live.
So plenty to do and a pond close by where I can walk every day at least once. But the black dog has been hanging around for some days now and visited me in a heavy manner the last few days. I do find it hard to live in confined spaces and I have heard others say they feel they are living in a cage and I suppose that is what it feels like at times. I like to feel space around me and lots of light and I have not had that anywhere I have lived in the last few years. That kind of home is hard to find. My mother used to tell me I should live in a field and I think maybe she was right!
But I am dealing with the black dog by making myself go out up to the pond and walk along the paths. I had company this morning, a local dog owner who has become a friend so that should make it easier now. If you get visits from the black dog, how do you deal with them?
Walking the Druid Path 
I find that having a target helps….I like to have at least one new song rehearsed for our fortnightly folk club. My “black dog” appears if I take more codeine than I strictly need to controlmy arthritis….John /l\
I have to grab myself by the ankles and refuse to give in . Had a terrible winter when my eldest dog , my soul dog , almost died . No $ for a vet as we are in bankruptcy protection.
Through much research and a firm belief in herbs , she’s pulled through and is doing much better . But between money problems and the bleak future ahead. , I was not in a good place . I work retail 42 hours / week so no time to look inward . I am not a talker either .
May your black dog fade as mine lives !
Find peace in Nature and look to the sky often . All the best to you ….
I think with the politics as they are, and all the threats to the environment, an element of depression is inevitable in anyone of good heart. i worry about the people who aren’t struggling, tbh, because they’re failing to grasp what’s going on out there. I find time with fellow travellers is a great help in coping and keeping going. Sharing the grief, rage, confusion, fear, etc.
Sorry to hear you are so low. I get depression along with other Mental Health Problems. What helps? – Walking to my local City Farm, the pig there is great to talk with, she always makes me feel better when people don’t, also favourite music, gardening programmes, donating something to a charity shop so I still feel like I have something to give. Like you, I have mobility issues and no transport, so have that ‘open prison’ feel to my life i.e. struggling to camp to meet others on public transport is impossible now. Concur with posts above that the times we live in are deeply unsettling and worrying, you are not alone in feeling the pain of it. Thanks you for your blog. Hugs x x x