Celebrating 200 Posts: A Look Back

                  Yesterday I realized that I have reach a milestone that I never imagined I would reach, especially considering all I have been through the last two years. This is the 200^th post on Bent, Not Broken: Living with Depression. Two hundred snuck up on me. The only reason I know is that when I was checking my blog stats yesterday, I saw that I had written 199 posts. So, how did we reach this point? I started this blog on June 16, 2023 with the post Why a Depression Blog?. When I posted that I was just learning about blogging. I knew I had a message I wanted to share. A blog seemed like a good way to share it. At the time I had no way of knowing that this blog would become a lifeline for me over the next two years. The blog gave me purpose. It gave me a reason to write on days when I felt like crap. It has become a consistent part of my life as I post twice a week. I have posted when depressed, when anxious, when I felt terrible after chemotherapy, and when I have felt the hand of hope in my life. 

Today I am going to take a look back. I will share links to previous posts. I encourage you to follow the links and check out some posts you may have missed. You can also reread posts that you enjoyed. My goal is to grow this blog and reach people who live with mental illness as well as people who want to better understand mental illness. We live in a world where many people live with mental illness. It benefits all of us when understanding is spread. So, join me on this look back.

My second post (don’t worry I am not going to write about all 200 posts) Where did Bent, Not Broken Come From? explains the title of my blog. It contains a poem I wrote. Every once in a while, I share my poetry on this blog. Poetry is huge part of my healing story.

My most read post to date is A Safe Place for Healing. In this post I shared how writing at my favorite coffee place brings me a sense of healing. I am actually sitting at a Coffee Bea & Tea Leaf (my favorite) as I write this post. Some things never change. I think I will always feel most comfortable writing here.

Soon after I started this blog I was struck by cancer. As a result, I wrote about how the cancer affected me. Cancer intersected my battle with depression and anxiety. Strangely, cancer may have saved my life. Let me explain. I have battled suicidal thoughts most of my life. For more on suicide read these posts: Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Are Not Signs of Weakness and Hope After Suicidal Thoughts. When I was diagnosed with cancer, a desire to live interrupted my suicidal thoughts. I did not want cancer to end my life and I fought to live. A few of my most read posts involved my cancer battle and how it impacted my thoughts, which are driven by the mental illness I battle. These include: Grateful Despite Cancer, Contradictory Thoughts: Life and Death, A Funeral for My Hair, and Dancing the Down Days Away.

One of my main goals in writing this blog is to help people understand mental illness. The more people understand mental illness, the more stigma will be reduced. As someone who has been hurt by stigma (Turning Hurtful Words into Healing) I want to prevent others from feeling the sting I have felt. One post that aims to directly do this is What to Say to Someone with a Mental Illness.

I have also shared information on alternative treatments for depression. Four posts specifically focused on these alternative treatments. Two were written by a mental health professional, Stephanie Debnath, PMHNP, and two were written from my perspective as a patient who has received these treatments. These four posts were among some of the most read posts on my blog. To read them follow these links: Renewed and Recharged (TMS), TMS: A Firsthand Account, Gardening the Mind (Esketamine Treatment), and Fertilization and Purple Lights (Esketamine Treatment).

Two posts that might be worth a re-read are All I Know So Far and Whispers Above the Water. I know from first-hand experience that there are many people out there who care and who do everything in their power to help others. Check out these posts to read about some of them: Finding the Right Psychiatrist for You, Celebrating Nurse Practitioner Week, and National Physician's Assistants Day. As I write this, I realize I never wrote a post specifically about my psychologist. I mention him in several posts. He deserves his own post. Look for that next week. 

A few of my recent posts have felt good to write. One is about noticing thoughts. I think that is an important skill. We need to notice our thoughts and then move on rather than allow ourselves to fixate on a thought. This is not always easy when you have a mental illness. Check out this post for some ideas on Noticing Thoughts.

I have also written about Silencing Your Inner Critic and asking for help (You Possess the Strength to Ask for Help). Another post Mental Health on the Injury Report discusses the growing number of athletes who acknowledge their mental health needs. 

I am really proud of my March 2025 posts on Women in Mental Health. Here they are: Influential Women in the Mental Health Field, More Influential Women in the Mental Health Field, Continuing to Discuss Women Who Have Made Contributions to Mental Health, Even More Influential Women in the Mental Health Field, There Are More Influential Women in the Mental Health Field, and Women in Mental Health Who Are Influential in My Life.

I could go on. I have touched on so many mental health related topics. I was surprised when I went through all that I have posted. This blog is my baby. It is my gift to others. I hope that people with mental illness find connection and support in my blog. I hope that mental health professionals find affirmation for their work and a deeper understanding of their patients. I hope people who do not live with mental illness find a greater understanding of what it is like to live with mental illness. This blog is really for everyone. Check out some of the links I have included. Scroll through the blog. You might find something that interests you. Better yet, you might find something that helps you. 

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog. I appreciate all the reads. Thank you to all who have commented on posts. Comments help build engagement. I read all your comments. I am grateful to all who have shared my blog. These first 200 posts are just the beginning. I plan to continue posting and talking about mental health. I hope you will continue to read my blog. The success of Bent, Not Broken: Living with Mental Illness is built on my readers. Thank you