ABOUT

 

Who . . .

…am I? I’m Stacey, a wee Scottish lassie living in Manchester. GSOH, N/S, OHAC. In my thirties but sometimes still get asked for ID while buying a bottle of Sauvignon in Tescos. Enjoy long walks in the country and short walks in heels. Like eating out and, if someone else has made it, eating in. I’m as comfortable in jeans as I am wearing gladrags. My party piece is clasping my hands at my back and getting them to my front without taking them apart. My claim to fame is serving Cliff Richard in an Indian restaurant while wearing a sari. I was. He was in a particularly fetching Bermuda shirt. My friends say I’m alright if you get to know me.

 

What . . .

…is this blog all about then? It’s about depression. I, like 10% of the British population (according to Mind) suffer from it, and have done for years. Not that it was common knowledge until I outed myself on here. My family and a few close friends knew but that’s all. I’m not sure others even suspected. Someone actually commented recently how I’m ‘always in a good mood.’ Oh how I laughed. On the inside of course, cause obviously depressed people don’t find anything funny.

 

Why . . .

…have I called it Bitten by the Dog? Well, Winston Churchill used to refer to his depression as the black dog (which is pretty apt cause it really is a bitch) and it’s become a known term in the mental health world. Then when I told a dear far-flung friend about my battle and he replied that he was sorry to hear that I’d also been bitten by the dog, I decided I was nicking that.  What a wonderful way to describe it and how much easier it would be to tell people you’ve been bitten by the dog. Cause despite writing it seven times just on this page, I have difficulty saying the ‘d’ word. Mind you I have issues with some other words, panties (eurgh!) for one, so I may just be a wordophobic.

As for the dog, I didn’t just want to use a generic one stolen off t’interweb so after talking and talking and talking about needing an image, my mum drew one for me. I love it. My friend says I shouldn’t be so chuffed about ‘owning’ the dog though as it’s clearly under-fed and she’s going to shop me in to the RSPCA.

 

Where . . .

…am I hoping to go with this blog? Firstly it’s getting me back to writing. I used to write a dating blog a few years ago and loved it. Life and erratic moods got in the way though and I abandoned it. I keep starting and stopping writing my own novel about a girl with depression (well they do say to write about what you know) and am hoping that doing this will spur me on to finish it. (If I could get an agent and a publishing deal and an advance that would probably spur me on even more…!) But more importantly I’m writing this to help fellow sufferers and also those lucky buggers that have never had depression but want to understand to be able to help those close to them that do have it.

 

When . . .

…am I going to do it? Unfortunately due to the nature of depression, it isn’t always possible to write when the dog is biting. So the blog may not always be in real time, but I do promise you that what I write will always be real.

 

How . . .

…the hell am I going to do it? As per above, I’m not sure, cause even getting out of bed is hard to do when I’m in meltdown mode, so writing will be virtually impossible. I’ll write as many posts as I can during the times that I’m relatively ‘normal’ and hope you will bear with me for the rest of the time. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you’d like me to write about. Also if you fancy writing a post about your experience (anonymously if you’d prefer) then let me know. Go on, it’s very therapeutic!

I’d love it if you’d leave comments with your thoughts. Subscribe to find out when there are new posts to read. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook. I can be contacted directly on bittenbythedog@gmail.com

I really hope you enjoy this blog, and yes I do realise the irony of that remark considering the subject matter!

 

 

Me!

 

 

“Having depression is like having an orgasm…
you can never really know what it feels like
without experiencing it for yourself.”

Stacey Berry – Bitten by the Dog