Depression

Meeting Myself In the Attic

By Nathalie Levy Riess | August 18, 2022

This essay was workshopped in The Layers Writing Workshops. I never thought I would have the courage to finally face…

Experiencing Depression After Pregnancy Loss

By Dr. Kerry Bar-Cohn | October 12, 2021

For much of my life, I didn’t understand what it meant to be depressed. I thought it meant feeling down,…

Choosing Love

By Cheryl Nayowitz | August 24, 2021

As much as I loved love and dished it out generously to others, I fed myself fear. This ingestion was…

Maybe A Little Brighter, Tomorrow

By Atara Paris | January 26, 2021

After my second son was born, I struggled with mild postpartum depression (PPD). It was bad enough to be struggling…

How Far I’ve Come

By Jessica Koenigsberg | October 27, 2020

Twenty years ago today, I was in Israel in seminary for about twelve days when right before Rosh Hashana, my…

The Darkness Behind My Smile

By Arielle Zellis Paley | October 14, 2020

I am laying against the wall with my fingers in my ears.  My eyes are closed shut.  I feel the…

Azi’s Story: “Finding the Light Within Us”

By Shira Lankin Sheps | August 24, 2020

(1/8): “Feeling Deeply” “From a very young age, I had a great capacity to feel. I recall watching an episode…

My Mental Health Journey

By Adina Knapp | August 12, 2020

I never thought I would be someone with a “story.” But I think it is important to share the one…

What it’s like: Always living in a socially-distant- stressful world.

By Anonymous | May 24, 2020

Welcome to my world. I’m not being sarcastic. I’m welcoming you all, to this socially-distant, monotonous, stressful life, fully cognizant…

The Hidden Pain

By Anonymous | April 28, 2020

Three years ago, Yom Hazikaron took on a whole new meaning for me. That’s not to say that the day…

Post-Postpartum Depression and the Inner-Strength It Took to Get There

By Melody Coven | July 28, 2019

The night I found out I was pregnant with my second, I began to cry.  The tears were tears of…

Aliza’s Story: My Body, My Babies

By Shira Lankin Sheps | August 7, 2018

(1/7) “Unpretty”   At the time, I felt very unpretty. I felt in order to be pretty, you had to…