Hello, this is self-work and I'm Dr. Margaret Brotherford. This is not exactly a YGTG or

you get the gist because I have a special request to make. And I fully realize how difficult

it might be for some of you to even consider this. So my request is made very respectfully.

I'm writing a second book about the potential dangers of destructive perfectionism,

of suppressing emotional pain, of hidden depression, and at its worst and most cruel,

how those secrets and despair can lead someone to take their life, leaving others behind

to wonder what was so intolerable, and how they didn't have a clue that anything was wrong.

I'm reaching out to you who may have loved someone who died by suicide,

and their life looked not only perfectly normal but highly successful.

What I think and certainly hoped my first book perfectly hidden depression did

was to offer the realization that your life doesn't have to look like it's crumbling

for you to be depressed. That this kind of depression doesn't look like classic depression,

and you will not fit criteria for it. In fact, your life can look quite fulfilling and successful

to others. But underneath there's pain that's never been worked through,

or perhaps even recognized as important, even more tragically denied, or kept stowed away

in the unconscious. I've been honored to hear from some that perfectly hidden depression gave

them this structure through which to understand and not shame themselves for sadness,

fatigue, confusion, or terror of being found out, or looking vulnerable or out of control.

As a child, this perfect looking persona may have acted as camouflage so that you could protect

and defend yourself or push yourself to meet others' expectations.

But with time that camouflage has become heavier to wear, and the solution has become a huge problem.

I think what made that first book work were the stories.

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