This is “The Halves” photo series. It’s my personal way of creating awareness for depression and anxiety disorder.
When I’m depressed, I stop shaving and cutting my hair, along with many other things. Seemingly simple daily tasks become incredibly difficult, and everyday routines like brushing teeth and cooking require enormous effort. Thus, my beard and hair just grow wild. Finally, when a depressive episode ends, being tired of all the hair and to refresh my head, I go completely bald. Essentially, I go from one extreme to the other…
It was December 2017 when I took the first photo of this series. Since then, every December I cut half of my hair and take the photo according to the year’s events.
Simultaneously, I fight depression in every possible way. During the past five years, I have developed a toolbox that helps me prevent and fight depression.
Transcendental Meditation
After learning about Transcendental Meditation (TM) in David Lynch’s book Catching the Big Fish, I decided to give it a shot. Thus, I enrolled in a short class on how to practice Transcendental Meditation properly at the Los Angeles TM Center. Since then, my life has become much calmer, better connected, more creative, and happier in general.
Sports and Outdoors
Running is the quickest and most affordable way to gain an immediate boost in endorphins. All you need is a pair of shoes. Running is a drug! It’s a strong painkiller that you become addicted to. It helps me jumpstart my brain whenever I feel down, and enables me to simply maintain my energy levels.
Hiking is what I use to connect with nature and take my mind off stressful tasks. While it requires a bit more time than running, its effect is also a little bit longer lasting.
Mountain biking is a mix of the two aforementioned activities, albeit with a pinch of adrenaline. There is nothing more uplifting and fulfilling than going down a mountain at 30 mph. If this is too extreme for you, try just regular biking instead!
Vitamins and Nutrition
During one of my depressive episodes, I realized that some of my symptoms are too physical. Exhaustion, brain fog, and creative deprivation were leaving me incapable of completing any type of work. However, after some research, I discovered that there is a new approach to medicine called naturopathic medicine, which, in comparison to allopathic (i.e., conventional) medicine, focuses on understanding the root causes of illness instead of symptom reduction. I decided to give this a try, and the initial blood work revealed many interesting facts about my health. Ultimately, in addition to an extremely low vitamin D level, and a few other imbalances in my body, I also have a high level of lead. After learning this information, I began to pay more attention to my physical health and nutrition. Now, I take daily vitamins that help maintain my energy levels every day.
Work and Goals
Have you ever heard about the “flow”? It’s one of those moments when you become lost in work and forget about time, food, and everything else. It means you’re in the flow. These moments give us purpose and fulfillment. It’s much easier to wake up in the morning when you know why. For example, this entire week I’ve been working on my website, and time was going so fast that often 24 hours weren’t enough. Work and goals are really important for a healthy mind.