To Depression, With Love: A Memoir

Summary

An intimate memoir on living a joyful life with mental illness.

Marsha Jacobson was thirteen when her world shifted: Depression hit so severely that she could hardly eat. Once a spunky girl, Marsha became withdrawn, afraid to share her thoughts. Her parents, while loving, were not open to discussing mental illness.

Marsha struggled with depressive episodes and anxiety throughout adolescence and at university, but at age thirty, she opened her heart to a different approach: With the understanding that depression and anxiety would always be a part of her, Marsha gave them loving space. She discovered new ways of perceiving her mental health, embracing acceptance rather than shame and self-love instead of self-hate. Her openheartedness replaced a life of secrecy. From these perspectives she created tools like her “worry waiting room,” learned to speak directly to her intrusive thoughts, and allowed herself grace to tend to her illness as she would any other. Marsha gained much of her wisdom through raising four children, all of whom live with their own mental health struggles.

A refreshing read for those who have grown weary of narratives proclaiming cures, To Depression, With Love offers an accessible, shame-free path to living a happy life alongside mental illness.