Alice Yin of The Chicago Tribune interviewed me for a story with a very long name: Mental health groups mobilize virtual community for those isolated by coronavirus outbreak. ‘This is a lifeline for people.’ Because my Depression: Friends Supporting Each Other Meetup is going strong, she found me through Meetup.com. Alice asked me not just about how the Meetup has adjusted to meeting online, but asked about my history of depression.
Not many would want to be in the paper for living with depression, but Alice picked the right person. Most of my story is on this blog anyway. Then she asked if she could send a photographer to take a picture of me. Sure, why not?
This is the photo Armando Sanchez took from outside my apartment. We didn’t want him inside while I’m symptomatic. I like how the texture of the screen door makes it look a bit like a painting. And my expression looks like I’m thinking, “I knew this would happen.”
The depression Meetup has met twice online and it’s gone well. People have joined us who would usually have trouble making it all the way to Rogers Park. We’ve agreed that there’s a reassuring feeling to the whole world finally agreeing with us that life is scary, it’s safer at home and we’re all doomed. We’ve also commiserated about how hard it is to stay inside every day.
Now that the Illinois shelter-in-place order has been extended to April 30th, we’ll have a whole month yet to get to know each other through our devices.
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