you want me to understand

Hey Jess,

I sincerely hope that none of my comments have ever made you feel awful. If they did, I apologise. Getting to know you for that brief amount of time I found someone I liked and respected. Take care Jess

I hope you don't let those few people hold you back -
I hope you stay strong. But I do know how that kind of thing can really hurt.
And I DAMN well remember that you rushed to my side...which helped me tremendously.
Email me if I can be of any help at all, even just as a shoulder.

Shake off those comments that hurt you and focus on the ones that support you. I don't know you except through your blog, but we all need friends, and I am yours. I'm here for you.

Please continue to to express and be yourself. Being true to you is what matters.

Oh, don't so sensitive. JOKING. I am the Queen of Sensitive and I hate it when people tell me to "just ignore them" because I can't.

But I try to keep in mind that small-minded, mean people are that way because it is all they CAN do - they have no other power, nothing else to offer, so they offer the world what they can, which is their trollhood.

Mean people especially suck. Jerks.

If these people are being mean and malicious in there comments, it's because they don't know how to properly respond to your honesty. You are doing nothing wrong. This is your blog. Don't let others try to make you change what you write.

I agree with what everyone else has told you. Mean people do suck, and they just try to bring those people who are above them down. Please don't let them get to you too badly. I know it will affect you, but think of it in a positive way, even when they are saying mean things. When I started reading your blog a few months ago, all I wanted to do was feel sorry for you, but I knew that was wrong, because you are strong enough to continue to write about how depression is altering your life and you are FIGHTING to stay ahead of it. I truly ADMIRE you. (And on a side note, if you want to send me the comments, I will be more than happy to take care of them through my blog...just kidding, I wouldn't stoop to their level, but it is fun to think about doing it!)

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!!!

I have got a comment stalker... very mean chap. Questions my parenting skills and calls me expletives. What are we to do?

He calls himself dogboy, not the same one, is it?

People do suck. And meanness is never appreciated. That said, I am totally going to be an asshole and suggest a thought. Have you ever tried NOT writing down your negative thoughts? Not that I want you to stop your blog because it's awesome and totally honest. But sometimes writing down stuff makes you feel it more intensely. Does that even make sense? During my last struggle with depression, I tossed out my journal - the one where I wrote down my deep dark thoughts and angry rants. Whenever I felt the urge to write I forced myself to stay away from the darkness and only write about what I was grateful for. In a strange way, it worked. I told my doctor what I was doing and he said that the reason it works is because continued negative thinking reinforces those neuropathways in our brain that cause depression. Changing your thought process, even through writing, changes the way neurons fire in your brain.

Anyway, it sounds totally lame and ridiculous but I swear it helps. These last few weeks my daughter has been really ill and has been tentatively diagnosed with epilepsy. I want so much to write AND talk about how unfair it is but I make myself say, "my daughter is sick BUT we are getting her help and taking positive steps to make her healthy." Again, so lame and so very Stuart Smalley but it does help me. But that's just me :)