I've been on antidepressants for a year and a half, and it's time to bring this period of my life to a close. I've decided it's time for me to come off antidepressants.

For the last year and a half, I have been taking a daily 50mg dose of Sertraline, a common antidepressant. But why? How did I get to a point where I believed I needed chemicals to alter my brain in order to be happy?

I made a Key Kiwi Pie.

Did I mean to make a Key Lime Pie? Yes, I did. But my brain had other ideas.

I’d like to make an appeal to the recruiters of the world. Please, please, stop asking why we are applying for your job. You know why, and you need to stop pretending otherwise.

It’s because we have no choice.

Andy is my best friend. He was the best man at my wedding. I love him like a brother. We've known each other for almost two decades. I'll always be there when he needs me, and I've always known he'd do the same for me. 

He's also a bastard who abandons his friends to flee the country! 

Last month, I officially registered as self-employed.

And, suddenly, I feel comfortable calling myself “A Writer”.

50mg Sertraline, taken daily, has lifted a cloud from my brain. While I don’t feel 100% at my best, it’s allowed me to embrace my creativity again. I’m able to plan out a full day of work. I can think again. 

But this ability to function doesn’t mean I’m not still depressed. 

Let’s just be clear about this. This was not “a really bad day for him”.

What happened in Atlanta was a hate crime, perpetrated by a mentally disturbed and radicalised white 21-year-old male.

t would seem like it’s a simple answer here. My marriage has ended. I’m going through a separation. The end of a long-term relationship is a traumatic experience.

But, as always in life, there’s more to my decision than that.

Do I need structure, or do I need freedom? Am I using structure as a cage to hide myself from new possibilities that might be scary or hard? Am I using it to give myself a sense of utility, and therefore meaning to other people? Or is this how I get things done?

Reading and writing are hard. They shouldn’t be hard. They’ve never been hard before. Why are they hard? What do you do when the things that make you the happiest become so hard to do that you begin to wonder if they are worth it?

I’ve had Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th on my to-watch list for a while now. But it was a film I needed to be in the right mind-state to watch. I’ve not been in the right headspace to actively view anything for a while, but as soon as I was this was my first choice. And here’s the thing that struck me.