A few days ago I launched my memoir ‘An Inconvenient Posting: An expat wife’s memoir of lost identity’ at the world. Over 80 people helped me celebrate and unsurprisingly, I was flushed with excitement to finally have the book in my hand!

After first reading the introductory Chapter to my guests (Cowboy in the Bedroom reflects a period of contentment after I had settled into Houston life) I turned to a second excerpt; a part of the story which describes my three children starting school in Houston. It is autumn and for my youngest, the beginning of her school life. I had planned for this eventuality, having recently trained and qualified in the UK as a psychotherapist. Unfortunately, having done this outside the State of Texas, I would later be informed I was unable to practice there.

For me that time was both a beginning and an ending; the end of an era because I no longer had a child at home during the day (something I had viewed until that moment as fairly positive) and the beginning of a slide into an episode of depression. To quote from my memoir, “I was incredulous at the evaporation of my careful plans… to ensure I would be gainfully employed at this moment.”
Against the backdrop of isolation, which arrival in a foreign posting can bring, I felt the children’s absence keenly. Although this loss was only one piece in a jigsaw of circumstances, that when pieced together, formed a picture I would call expat depression. My memoir reveals how I spiralled into identity crisis and what helped me find my way back to a happy state of mind – a place from which I could enjoy the posting.

If I needed proof that people are touched by the sharing of such emotional challenges, I felt it at the launch party. As I glanced up from my book, the assembled crowd were listening intently but the look on their faces reflected back to me the depth of feeling they were experiencing. Perhaps some of them were re-living the pang they felt as they waved a child off to school or much later when they left home. We usually want our children to go but that does not stop us feeling the pain of separation when they do…

Depression touches our lives in unexpected ways; we hope never to experience it and yet many do and most of us know someone else who has. It seems it is part of the human experience to occasionally find ourselves unable to cope emotionally. But to be in that place is often isolating and lonely and there are no geographical or social barriers to being depressed.

Each year, World Mental Health Day is celebrated on 10th October to ‘raise public awareness about mental health issues’. The day promotes open discussion of mental disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and treatment services. This year the theme for the day is “Depression: A Global Crisis”’.

My motivation for writing An Inconvenient Posting was to focus on depression and identity crisis and share my hard won learning. It is in two distinct parts; some people will prefer to read a story that entertains and informs, while others prefer a ‘how to’ approach. The memoir is a lively, sad and often humorous account of a depressive episode and the second part, a practical guide to recognizing, managing and seeking professional help for anyone currently struggling with depression.

PS Don’t miss a series of blogs at www.Wordgeyser.com on coping with children leaving for college and the reality of the ’empty nest’:

And Tina L Quick’s book:The Global Nomad’s Guide to University (2010) Summertime Publishing, see more at Expatbookshop.com

See more of artist Kay Crain at her website and blog: kaycrain.com