I haven't been able to write in a few days, because I feel worthless as an author. That usually means I'm in a depressive episode.

Stay with me. This is going places other than emo.

It feels like writers have the worst depression rates of all various artist types. I don't know whether or not that's true; the internet says it is, and as we all know, they don't allow things on the internet if they aren't true. It may very well be selection bias on my part. But, four names immediately jump to mind---Poe, Hemingway, Beckett, and J.K. Rowling---and if I've got four names ready to go without really thinking about it, the link merits consideration.

Case in point: I have bipolar. I don't really care who knows it---it's just a thing, and the only reason I bring it up is its relevance to the topic. Before I was properly diagnosed, I swung between writing pages and pages at the drop of a hat and spending days so crippled with grief I could barely get up from the bed. I look back on those days now and wonder how I even made it out in one piece. I also realize I'm very lucky that regard. I found a support net and several good doctors to help. Many don't have that---especially the healthcare part, but that's another discussion for another time.

One thing that makes this extra bad is that depression (and bipolar) aren't talked about in polite society. It makes people uncomfortable. What will you do next? What happens if you stop taking your meds? What then? (Answer: First of all, I get really nauseous.) It gets swept neatly under the rug, like a lot of other mental illnesses. It ought not to be. There needs to be a hand to reach out to. There needs to be a discussion. There needs to be an understanding that it takes more, far more, than a general practitioner tossing you some escitalopram to make you feel better.

Anyway, I kind of launched into this post without really having an end point in mind. This is kind of a pet issue for me, since I've experienced firsthand how bad depression can get. But, if nothing else, I'll say this: We've lost an uncomfortable amount of authors to suicide, and that's just high profile names. There are scads of people suffering through this problem. We, as a society, need to stop treating it like leprosy and have a good, long conversation about it. It's okay to have depression or bipolar. It takes work, a lot of work sometimes, but it can be managed. Reach out to others if you need help. And, if you see someone who needs help, please reach back.

If you've read this far, please consider donating to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, or even better, volunteering. They're good people who do good work.