Welcome to the Diary of Secrets
Hi, I’m Deb Shugg and I’ve lived with depression and anxiety symptoms since I was a teen.
It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that the crunch really hit. By then my anxiety was so extreme I couldn’t leave my house. I spent months crying and wishing I was dead and wondering what I’d done wrong. I became so very tired of incessant panic attacks, thoughts of suicide, lack of self-confidence and fear. I had no idea how I would find a way out.
Still, with all that going on I still knew in my heart that this was not the life I was created for. I believed there was a ‘real’ me underneath all the fear and sadness, I just had to find her.
Since then, I’ve started, built and sold a successful, multi-million dollar business. Won a number of business awards. Written my first book. And now, with my husband, run a small cafe.
So, you’re possibly wondering how I did all this from the lowest point in my life. Perhaps from the place you’re at now.
Well, most of the answers can be found in my BLOGs.
The Diary of Secrets provides an open book into the debilitating world of mental and emotional illness. It’s an insight to the fear and frustration, the pain and the pressure, the up’s and the all too common downs.
But most of all it might just provide some of the answers you’re looking for!
Check out some of these BLOGS from the Diary
- Living with depression & anxiety – How does your garden grow?
Possibly the saddest thing about trauma for a child is that they cannot easily develop into the adult they were designed to be. Their natural, emotional growth is espaliered into fractured branches, each neatly groomed to ensure survival. - Living with Depression & Anxiety – Finding Meaning?
It’s true that you don’t have to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety or other emotional health issue to feel at times, that life sucks. After all, we all make bad decisions. But what is it that has people turning to religion, with it’s questionable reputation, when bad stuff happens? - Living with Depression & Anxiety – Is freedom just another word..?
When you live with depression and anxiety forgiveness can be a tough pill to swallow. If you’ve ever been the victim of a crime or other traumatic event (even of your own making) it’s easy to fall in to the self-pity trap. The feeling that your objectionable behaviour is somehow made acceptable because of your suffering. The problem is that […] - Living with Depression & Anxiety – What did you say…?
Many depressed and anxious people perform incredible feats of emotional daring to make themselves appear “normal”. They fake illnesses so you’ll accept their excuses. They’ll hide behind alcohol, recreational drugs, obsessive routines, work-a-holism, arrogance and avoidance to make sure that you don’t make ripples that their “jerry-built” boats can’t handle. - Living with Depression & Anxiety – The only safe place…
It’s common for other’s to think that depressed and anxious people are shy and avoid ‘social’ behaviors but that’s not always true. It’s one of the things I struggle with daily. I believe that to “prove” I’m depressed and anxious I must exhibit the generic depression and anxiety symptoms that others would expect. When in fact, most of the time I’m naturally loud and the more stressed I am, the louder and funnier I become. - Living with Depression & Anxiety – It’s just not fair!
Not the justice that can be measured in terms of crime and punishment or right and wrong, because humanity doesn’t seem to have the capacity for “fair”. But the justice that conveys I have a right to exist because I was created to do so. Justice that allows me to hope for a future I may not deserve, but will nonetheless provide the opportunity for me to uncover who I really am, because I know my creator.
Recent Comments