Category: Depression

• There’s always a death at Christmas

  Of course, death is always with us in vast quantities that we can only imagine when we can’t sleep at night. But the ones that have gobsmacked me at holiday time started with a Shakespeare seminar classmate in college. I didn’t know him well, but when he disappeared over Christmas break in a small plane…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  December 10, 2018

  Advent, Balance, Being present in our lives, Depression, Faith and religion, Grief, Handling loss without eating, Uncategorized

  Death and Christmas, Death never takes a holiday, Loss at the holidays

• Watsontown, PA

  “How’d you find Watsontown?” asked one of my 111 high school classmates after Stoic and I ended up there as we drove home from Niagara Falls last month. She, incidentally, is among the handful of us who didn’t stay there after graduation. Well, as a vaudeville comic might say, with great difficulty. I think because…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  September 15, 2018

  Aging, Comfort food, Compulsive eating, Depression, Depression and anxiety-related food issues, Emotional side of weight loss, Food addiction, Rural life, Taking care of ourselves, Warrior Run High School Class of ’62, Why overweight?

  Academy Street by Mary Costello, High school reunion, obesity, self-image, why overeat

• Depression — that big black bear — and obesity

  For a cogent discussion of the relationship between the two, see — surprise! —  an interview with the glamorous Charlize Theron in the May issue of Elle magazine. She gained 35 pounds to play an exhausted new mother in “Tully,” and says “I had depression for the first time in my life shooting this film.” Isn’t…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  June 17, 2018

  Aging, Depression, Depression and anxiety-related food issues, Exercise, obesity, Seniors and weight loss, Working out

• Mother’s Day — it’s complicated

  The cliché is that psychiatrists’ patients talk about how much they hate their mothers. In fact, my shrink met my mother once and never stopped talking about how much he disliked her! I’ve always given her points for being brave enough to go with me to one of my sessions, but, in truth, felt validated…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  May 12, 2018

  Depression, Depression and anxiety-related food issues, Emo eating, Emotional side of weight loss, Family, Food addiction, Why overweight?

  looking for emotional warmth from food, obesity, self-image, understanding food addiction, why overeat

• Girls just want to have fun, #101daysagymrat

  So on Day 101 at the Y I was 15 pounds lighter than 101 days previously, I co-taught a Silver Sneakers class and then went to a 60-minute kettle bell demonstration. All in my purple tutu with LED lights (3 speeds). Lessons learned: A tutu on big hips sticks straight out like a ruffle on…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  January 3, 2018

  Balance, Building better habits, Depression, Exercise, Holiday eating, Keeping track of what we eat, Making new habits, Senior fitness, Uncategorized, Weight Watchers, Working out

  Cooking Light magazine, healthy eating, Paula Poundstone, weight loss

• My year as an only child

  My only sibling died a year ago today, just as summer 2016 premiered.  I guess, officially, I was also an only child in the 21 months before her birth, but I’m assuming I enjoyed that. This, not so much. I miss her. No one else walks this world who knows what it was like in…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  June 20, 2017

  Addiction, Depression, Emo eating, Emotional side of weight loss, Taking care of ourselves, Why overweight?

  binging, healthy eating, obesity, over-eating, self-image, weight loss

• Weight Watchers watching

  Sunday’s USA Today crossword features shades of blue. Appropriate, because I am feeling cobalt, indigo, azure, sky, baby, teal and several others since going back to Weight Watchers three weeks ago (my fourth trip to the scales is tomorrow). The first week I was just anxious — how was I going to figure out the nifty WW phone app?…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  May 3, 2016

  Addiction, Building better habits, Compulsive eating, Depression, Emo eating, Importance of others to recovering addict, Starting over, Stress eating, Sugar, Weight Watchers

  binging, healthy eating, obesity, self-image, why overeat

• I’m as corny as Kansas in August (insert favorite upbeat lyrics here)

    I like to imagine that in happy, healthy families the children grow up to expect and focus on the positive. “Don’t you ever think things might turn out OK?” asked a heartfriend soon after getting to know me. Why, no, it’s not in my DNA. I grew up waiting for the other, much scarier,…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  March 19, 2015

  Addiction, Balance, Depression, Food habits, Mind games and weight loss

  healthy eating, obesity, over-eating, weight loss, why overeat

• What does a fresh corn souffle have to do with depression?

  Plenty- in this house where I’ve learned over the years that so much of dealing with depression is putting one foot in front of the other, making supper, digging down into your real (as opposed to your fantasy) relationships. I also need to say here that I’ve been taking a minimal amount of generic Paxil…

  JoAnn Rhodes Grose

  August 12, 2014

  Addiction, Depression, Food addiction, healthy cooking, Seasonal food, Simple foods

  cheese, cooking from garden, Corn, eggs, Robin Williams