“I look at other people and think, "He lives without meds. She does. What is wrong with me? Am I so biochemically… — Martha Manning Obstacle Course Copy Share Image
“In the middle of a night, hunched over my computer, with the rest of the house dark and quiet, I feel a… — Martha Manning Computers Copy Share Image
I always feel bad laughing at people who act crazy. But sometimes the things they do are so damned funny. I wonder… — Martha Manning Comedy Copy Share Image
“Call someone 'a schizophrenic' or 'a borderline' [and it] lulls us into a false sense that those words tell us who the… — Martha Manning Borderline Copy Share Image
“She reports the breakup of the relationship as if she is presenting a case in court - all facts, no feeling. I… — Martha Manning Breakup Copy Share Image
“I didn’t want to die because I hated myself; I wanted to die because I loved myself enough to want this pain… — Martha Manning Dying Copy Share Image
“He throws a quick arm around me and quotes a line we've always loved from The New Hampshire Hotel, "Keep passing the… — Martha Manning Gaze Copy Share Image
“Suffer from depression." That's right. It is suffering. A person does not just have depression. She suffers from it.” — Martha Manning Depression Copy Share Image
I would never kill myself intentionally. I couldn't do that to my family, my friends ... But to have fate step in… — Martha Manning Ashamed Copy Share Image
I'm getting less good at faking it. People in my family are noticing and asking what's wrong. My friends give me invitations… — Martha Manning Asking Copy Share Image
“In the psychological literature, depression is often seen as a defense against sadness. But I'll take sadness any day. There is no… — Martha Manning Books Copy Share Image
I should come with a consumer warning, like the labels that say "Handle with care" or "May be hazardous to your health."… — Martha Manning Awful Copy Share Image
If only I had known a year ago what I'd be facing now. Until last year I lived with the innocent arrogance… — Martha Manning Angle Copy Share Image
The images are visual, auditory, olfactory, kinesthetic. They aren't laid down on the same tracks as thought. And sometimes, when they return… — Martha Manning Auditory Copy Share Image
“My depression points to my not knowing how to lose - I have perhaps been unable to find a valid compensation for… — Martha Manning Depressed person Copy Share Image
“All the romantic nonsense about depression somehow making one into a creature of unique sensibilities is easy to agree with when I… — Martha Manning Depression Copy Share Image
“People say, "I have heart disease," not "I am heart disease." Somehow the presumption of a person's individuality is not compromised by… — Martha Manning Borderline Copy Share Image
“For so long now I have waited to get back to baseline and I have to go to exactly the same point… — Martha Manning Healing Copy Share Image
“There is no getting away from a wave that has got your name on it. The tide will come in whether you… — Martha Manning Tide Copy Share Image
In these flashes of insight, I understand for a moment that one of the great dividends of darkness is an increased sensitivity… — Martha Manning Darkness Copy Share Image
It's enough just to speak when spoken to, to give some minimal reaction to a stimulus. But to actually be the stimulus… — Martha Manning Depression Copy Share Image
The infinity of this vacancy, the pervasive pain, the longing for some spirit, some lightness, some joy - that's all that is… — Martha Manning Infinity Copy Share Image
“But I keep going because I've learned over the past few months that as bad as things seem, they can always get… — Martha Manning Bad things Copy Share Image
“When you're depressed, everyone has an opinion about what you should do. People seem to think that not only are you depressed,… — Martha Manning Depression Copy Share Image
Psychologists call it "free-floating" anxiety. What contradictory words. Anxiety doesn't free-float. It stalks. It attacks. It lands on you with a thud. — Martha Manning Anxiety Copy Share Image
The bottom line is that my life has already almost slipped away from me. I have two choices: I can end it… — Martha Manning Bottom Copy Share Image
Depression is such a cruel punishment. There are no fevers, no rashes, no blood tests to send people scurrying in concern. Just… — Martha Manning Blood Copy Share Image
“Just hold me, sit with me, put your arm around me. Listen as I struggle to tell you what it feels like,… — Martha Manning Just Hold Copy Share Image
“I cried to her, "Why did this have to happen? Why?" I expected some plausible and complicated medical explanation. She shrugged and… — Martha Manning Cried Copy Share Image