Realm of the Reaper: Dark Fiction Inspired By A Darker Reality

I write about depression a lot--and will continue to do so--because it's something that needs to be talked about. But I don't want to give people the impression that just because I suffer from clinical depression and anxiety, I don't have my fair share of sunshine and rainbows. I have good days, and today was one of them. Nothing all that specific about what made it good--I mean, we did find a stray dog and managed to find his owners and get him home--it was just an easy, low-stress, good day. The kids didn't drive me absolutely nuts. I folded some laundry. I wrote nearly 4,000 words on my newest short story. I've spent the last couple of hours working on the computer and listening to Josh Groban through my headphones while my husband navigates the new Xbox One. Once I finish this post, I'm going to read a bit--I'm currently in the middle of "The Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks--and then **hopefully** get a good night's sleep. And tomorrow i

"Can't you just stop being sad?" "Why don't you get over it already?" "Go out, get some sun, you'll feel better." "We all get sad sometimes. It passes." We've all heard these platitudes before; some of us might even say them at times. And they're usually said to someone claiming to suffer from depression. Why do I say claim? Because the unfortunate reality is that the majority of those who've never dealt with clinical depression don't understand clinical depression. They have a skewed perception of what depression actually is, and they don't recognize it as a chronic issue that never actually goes away. Their fault? Not necessarily. Media and lack of government support do their fair share of damage. But the result is the same. People think being depressed means being sad, and yes, we all get sad sometimes. But that's not what having depression means. Having depression goes so far beyond feeling sad. In