Seth Swirsky recalled one day in the mid-1980s walking along Cutter Mill Road in Great Neck. He described himself as being “in a very deep funk,” wondering how he would ever get out of his depression.
“I really remember having the thought that if I could ever get out of this, I really want to help people,” Swirsky, 56, recalled.
Now Swirsky, a self-described “manic expressive” who graduated from Great Neck South High School in 1978, has tackled many ventures: songwriting, filmmaking, writing baseball books and earning a master’s degree in clinical psychology to start his own practice.
All of these experiences played a part in creating his latest book: “21 Ways to a Happier Depression: A Creative Guide to Getting Unstuck From Anxiety, Setbacks, and Stress.”
Swirsky said that a book like this is more relevant than ever, as between politics, technology and social media, life has grown more complicated and stressful.
“I made it very conversational and very easy to do things,” Swirsky said. “My feeling is if you get one thing out of it, it can help.”
Swirsky said his book is small, 116 pages, but it contains many details. He described water color art pages, relevant sayings and ideas juxtaposed to help everything make more sense.
He also said that “21 Ways to a Happier Depression” follows a pattern of his previous works in its optimism, positivity and simplicity. He described the book as both conversational and helpful.
“It’s just a friend that has real points that are tried and tested,” Swirsky said.
One piece of advice offered in the book comes in the chapter “Paint Box.” It suggests to readers to paint circles and squares on a paper – “nothing fancy,” Swirsky noted – to get the body in motion and help one’s mind stop thinking about other things.
Another is to simply change the pictures in one’s house. “Sometimes things on your wall and things in your picture frames are stale because you’ve seen them too much,” he said.
Swirsky said that for many of his hundreds of clients, at least one of the items had proven useful.
He recalled how one technique helped his daughter Daisy through a panic attack. He sat down with her outside very quietly, asking very few questions, and applied a cold dripping washcloth to her forehead.
“Within five minutes, she had come off that high bad feeling and she was relaxed again,” Swirsky said.
Swirsky said that this amounted to giving her a “tool” she could use to alleviate feelings of anxiety. In publishing this book and dedicating it to her, Swirsky described it as an attempt to give her and others more “tools in their toolbox.”
“[It’s] more for alleviating those feelings coming on like a train… If you already know you have a few things in your toolbox, then you’re less afraid when that train is coming at 100 miles an hour,” Swirsky said. “It can just go by.”
“21 Ways to a Happier Depression” can be purchased online on Amazon.
