Goodbye and thanks

your welcome honey!

psilo, so glad you are not leaving. We've not communicated much if any directly(my memory not always good), but I know I've read your posts and enjoyed your pictures. We never know how we touch others by simple words or smiles and see, you have touched many people here. You are needed and understood here at DG. I got chills when I read your post of how much these people here touched you. It's a good thing. We are all home.

Ya didn't get very far now did ya??? LOL Glad to keep you around for another year. Now go post something cool! LOL

Yeah, go post some more 'cracks'. It is STILL raining here!!! Anyone got their Ark done yet? Eh? Eh?
Glad you're stickin' around. My hubby doesn't get anything out of the yard either. I do it all myself. He has gotten better about coming outside to 'smell this' or 'look my first rose!' though. Sometimes those close to us just don't understand how important these things are until we tell them. It is a wonderful thing this DG. :)

Psilo, I don't post much, but I do enjoy you pictures. So glad you are staying.

Glad you changed your mind. I was just looking at your Plant Archive (lovely site) on another thread. I was able to identify 4 of my geraniums whose tags I mixed up!

Psilo, I've only been on DG for a month, but I have read and enjoyed your posts and photos immensely. I also suffer from chronic depression and just reading what these wonderful people have to say has made me realize that, even though you don't think so sometimes, there are many people that do care about you, more than you will ever know. Just remember that depression is a brain chemistry imbalance, not a result of something that you have done or failed to do. I am not very good with words, so I will just say, hang in there, take your medications, and continue to post because there are many of us who care about you.
Bill

Psilo, thank you very much for re-considering you decision to leave us. I'm really happy that you will stay and share your knowledge and pictures with us.

A big hug from this end of the world,

Ursula
(from Chile)

Psilo, I'm glad you're staying too. Friends are the real treasures. Linda

I find it interesting that two of the things the first psychiatrist I saw about depression said not to do were:
Gardening and
Being on the Computer.

This thread is something I should share with that "professional." I am very glad Psilo is staying and hopefully sees that there are many of us among DG. 1/6 of the U.S. population suffers from depression and in many ways it is no different than diabetes. Just a the bodies inability to produce insulin creates diabetes, it is believed depression is primarily be a chemical insufficiency. It can be generally treated with medication and often modified by diet and exercise. Hang in there.

What a quack, George! I can see avoiding the computer if it's your LIFE and you isolate yourself with it, but I can speak from personal experience that some of the friends I've made online have been lifesavers and greatly bouyed me when I've been mired in depression. And to say gardening is harmful?! Sheesh! Give him a nice bouquet of poison ivy. ;)

sounds like that psychiatrist was trying a little job security insurance ... gardening is my therapy, computing, too, for that matter.

anyway, I'm still new here, and I do enjoy sharing the knowlege of all the Dave's Garden members, including psilo. So glad you stayed!

Cheri'

I agree with you george there are some psychiatrists out there with very strange views indeed! I sometimes wonder if it isnt mine that should be laying on the couch!!LOL

I took up my allotments mainly to get me fit and stop my going stir crazy when I had my babies. Later when my depression kicked in it was my lifeline though at times I find it absolute torture to sit in the sun with all my flowers around me and still feel really bad!:((
Depression can be a very isolating illness and without the help of friends to reach out to on the computer at the most difficult times I sometimes wonder if I would still be here :(

i am glad I am staying too :))

Most of the mental health professionals I've known through the years highly recommend gardening as an antidote to depression -- it is excellent exercise, and a perfect metaphor for sound mental health and equilibrium: one prepares the soil, plants and tends a seed and nurtures it through growth to bloom; then one waits out a period of seeming dormancy while that cycle of life continues beneath the surface of the Earth -- optimism for the rough times, the winters of our lives.

As for the computer -- although anything in excess, or of the wrong kind, can become a negative factor in our lives, the computer (specifically, the Internet) offers a way for people who might otherwise be isolated to connect with others and develop uplifting friendships and a solid support system.

It sounds to me as if any psychiatrist who thinks gardening and computer-ing (in a blanket sense) are bad needs to have his/her head examined!

This message was edited Wednesday, Jun 25th 10:41 PM

My therapist thinks my gardening is great and she is glad I recently got a computer. Her only caution is that if you do it to avoid dealing with reality, your emotions, etc. then it is counterproductive. (Maybe she encourages my gardening because I bring her flowers - she used to be quite the gardener herself but now is limited to what she can grow on the small shady patio of her condo.)

Many years ago, I was in administration in Texas Dept. of MHMR facilities. Most of the facilities were residential. On each campus was a greenhouse, and on some there was actually farming, growing much of the produce for the residents. Caseworkers often included horticultural activities in the treatment plans for the clients, and it was considered a privilege to be allowed to participate in such projects. It was used as incentive to control anger, perform routine chores, improve hygiene, even stay on the open campus and not run away. Unacceptable behavior might result in the loss of the privilege for a time. Some of the residents spent all of their free time "under the hill" where the greenhouses were located at one school, learning skills and patience and self-discipline while they did the work of a large nursery. They were far less prone to depression and other common disorders, without benefit of many drugs which have been developed in recent years.