I have come to accept that I will deal with depression for the rest of my life.ĭepression does not define me. I have tried many different medications over the years but haven't found one that works for me. When everything else in my life is going well, I know I'm about to go through an episode because I'll begin to feel like I'm getting the flu. I have since been diagnosed as having persistent depressive disorder.

I was diagnosed with a major depressive episode. When I was nineteen, I attempted suicide. I have supported myself throughout the years working with computers, and I've enjoyed being able to make money doing something I love. I wrote my first bit of code when I was twenty. I learned to build computers when I was sixteen. Programming, building hardware, tinkering. Many of my off-hours (and often when I have a day job) are spent working with computers. Over the past six years, I have produced an average of two books per year, and all the subject matter I write about is very personal to me. I spend most days clacking away on a keyboard (another custom-made job, but one I built myself, with old-timey typewriter keys and a hardwood case), drinking coffee, and talking to my dog. I love those shoes and I wear them everywhere.

They're TARDIS blue with white detailing and a black strip down the back that says Police Box. They're custom-made Converse high-tops that I created online.

'Crazy' is not a singular-or definitive-experience. There is power in language, and there's power in what a word or a label can mean to each person. Some avoid labels, while others embrace them. The more we talk, the more it becomes clear that there's no single definition of 'crazy,' that there's no single experience of 'crazy,' and that the word 'crazy' itself means different things to different people. One of the best ways to understand mental health is, of course, to start talking about it. I s there a single definition of what it means to be 'crazy'? Is using the word 'crazy' offensive to those struggling with mental illness and something to be avoided? What does it mean for people when labels like 'crazy' are attached to their everyday experiences?

[Don't] Call Me Crazy by Kelly Jensen