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About the author
Penne Kaddatz (nee Mooney) wrote A Roadmap for your Life at age 22. Now, aged 25, she works as the Social News Reporter and Columnist for The Daily Mercury newspaper, Mackay. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communications, a Bachelor of Communications Honours, and a Bachelor of Education (Professional) from Central Queensland University (CQU). She conducts tutorials in Cultural Technologies, Cultural Industries and Cultural and Media Identity at CQU. PREFACE
Throughout
my life, I always wanted to find someone who was able to give me the advice I
needed to hear. I always felt that
I was able to solve other people’s problems better than my own.
I felt unappreciated when I found that no one was able to guide me
because I felt that they were not listening to me or didn’t care enough to
consider providing suitable advice.
Then I realized that the problem did not lie with the people around me,
but with myself. I thought about it
rationally for months. How can I expect others to understand what I am going through
if they aren’t in my situation? And
how can I expect them to be mind readers and tell me exactly what I needed to
hear. The truth be told, I didn’t
even know what I needed to hear, I just knew that when I heard it, that it would
make sense and that it would be the key to all my difficulties.
I remembered a phrase; “the best advice is your own advice”.
That’s when I felt my life started to make sense. I started to feel
better about myself. I finally
appreciated that I was blessed with the ability to communicate with others,
break down their problems, consider their options, provide them with the
information that they needed to make their decisions, and then encourage them
along the path they chose to follow. So I
realized that if I can do this so easily for other people, why couldn’t I do
it for myself. I realized that
suffering from depression was clouding my ability to think rationally about
myself. My emotions were magnified
to the point where I knew I needed to make a change in my life, but had no idea
where to start, what to change or even how to change.
I believe that I am not alone in this situation.
I have written this book for others like myself, who have experienced
depression and/or been involved with family/friends that also suffer from
depression. In my family we have experienced the effects of depression
over a 10-year period. You do
not go through 10 years of depression without becoming an expert of sorts. I
believe that my experiences can be of value to other people that have been in or
are still involved in these types of situations.
I found that by living with someone who suffered from depression, I was
able to recognize the symptoms, understand their reactions, predict their
feelings and suggest ways to build their self-esteem.
However, it took me almost a year to recognize and understand that I,
myself, was suffering from depression, and even longer to work out how to build
my self-esteem. It had become
second nature to understand others that were suffering from depression, but it
was like interpreting a foreign language when I found I had to apply my
knowledge to myself.
It troubled me that I could not find a book to read that I felt
encapsulated the true nature of depression from a realistic point of view.
There are plenty of textbooks that detail the symptoms of depression and
ways in which to deal with it. There are motivational and self-esteem listening
tapes and seminars that can also provide you with this sort of information. But nothing I read or listened to really touched my heart or
made me feel that these people could really connect with the way I, and others
around me really felt. I was
swimming in information, and yet overwhelmed with alienation. If anything, this book aims to reach to your core and make
you truly understand that you are not alone in your feelings, thoughts and
actions.
You may find that this book is not telling you anything that you don’t
already know about yourself, that’s because it’s not specifically designed
to do this. I don’t have a
psychology degree and I don’t intend to tell you what a textbook can.
This is a realistic look into the thoughts and feelings of many people,
including myself that have had or still do, suffer from depression.
We shall explore these thoughts and feelings as a means of truly
understanding why we feel the way we do, to see we are not alone and that it is
possible to work through and alleviate depression.
I am here to unlock what you already know about yourself, and to help
you, help yourself. You hold the key, and I will show you what’s on either side
of the door. The rest is up to you,
but know that you are not alone, there are many key bearers like yourself out
there, and remember as you read this, that I am one of them. WHO
DOES DEPRESSION AFFECT?
Depression
can affect any one of us throughout our lives.
Obviously it is best to detect it in its early stages.
It can affect us at any age, whether we are young or old, male or female.
Depression can be a result of personal problems in a combination of areas
in one’s life. Some of the
problems, that have lead to depression that I have personally witnessed in the
youth of today are; anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, sexual
promiscuity, fear of intimacy, low self-esteem, eating disorders, victims of
abuse, and the list goes on… And
these are all problems experienced by individuals around me under the age of 24
years. I
have gained a particular interest in Mental Depressive Disorder because it
appears to be a repercussion and/or effect of many of these problems in
today’s youth. I have
become aware that it is not only mature individuals that experience the effects
of Mental Depressive Disorder. By
talking to those around me, it has become apparent that an alarming number of
the younger generation is experiencing depression.
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