Conquering Depression & Narcissism
One Man’s Journey
While scrolling through Steve’s Instagram you notice three things. His dog is so cute, Steve is always smiling, and there are many positive quotes. People who have a passion for positivity draw me in. I had to reach out to Steve to find out more about him.
Steve, can you tell us a little about yourself?
I am 29 years old and live in Chemnitz. It is a rather small city in the east of Germany. After graduating from high school, I trained as a restaurant specialist because gastronomy is my passion. That’s why I’m currently working full-time in a restaurant in my hometown. I also work as a journalist for a small regional newspaper and enjoy writing and reporting very much.
In September 2019, I separated from my partner after several years of relationship. I was saddened by the loss of the partnership. To distract myself during the separation period, I started uploading pictures to Instagram. At that point, I only had 54 followers and hated selfies and cameras. But with every picture and every like not only my self-confidence grew, but also the number of my subscribers. And now I have a lot of fun with Instagram and the platform has become a big hobby of mine. In addition, I started to write a blog about everyday problems, experiences, and thoughts, I have got a small radio station, I like to take pictures and I am currently trying to set up a podcast.
When I’m not working creatively on the Internet, I spend a lot of time with my Labrador “Lucie” or other dogs. J
You wrote a book called, “Richtungswechsel: Depressionen selbst bekämpfen.” Can you tell us what the book is about?
A few years ago, I had to deal with moderate depression through various circumstances and experiences. In Germany, the waiting time for a therapy place was several months. When you are waiting for an appointment, you are alone with your own feelings and yourself and have to try to save yourself from drowning. That’s why I tried to influence myself positively with simple means and not to let myself down. With success.
After my therapy could be ended, I got my depression under control and now I can look into life more positively than ever.
I wrote in the eBook how I managed to help myself and to live to some extent “happily” even without a therapist. The book is soon to be launched in a heavily revised form as a printed book. I still want to give more people a little help to accomplish what I did. The book does not replace a therapist !!! But there are advices, explanatory approaches, tips and tricks to work on yourself apart from classic psychotherapy.
In your podcast you talk a lot about narcissists, is that something you have had to deal a lot within your life with others?
Ohhh yes! My last relationship was far from happy! Nevertheless, I endured living in it for several years. Why I only realized afterward. My ex-partner didn’t really treat me well during our partnership. My self-confidence was almost completely reduced, my mental state deteriorated and I did not notice how much I was made emotionally dependent. After the breakup, the story took on a completely different dimension and I experienced the worst months of my life so far. At that point, I realized that I had been in a narcissistic relationship for several years. I dealt intensively with the topic and recognized all the backgrounds. The knowledge helped me to finally free myself and start a new life. Even if the topic is still relatively present and is not yet 100% complete. Both in the blog and in the podcast I try to explain the topic of narcissism because it is very extensive. I also describe my own experiences and how I managed to relieve myself.
In going through your Instagram you have a lot of positive quotes. What feeds your soul?
What feeds my soul? Especially the little things in life! At a certain point in my past, I realized that you cannot blame anyone else for a happy life! On the contrary! You are responsible for your own happiness and should not wait for a knock on the door. Rather go out and look for it yourself! And focus on the little everyday things. Because life is far too short to get upset about problems and difficulties. At every corner, there are moments, experiences and people who are worth being noticed and enjoyed! You should live the moment and enjoy it to the fullest before you have the memory of it. Keeping this lifestyle in mind is not always easy, especially at the beginning! But it’s worth it! And above all, it’s the fact of sharing happiness! Because love and happiness are some things that become more as soon as you share it!
What projects do you have in the works currently?
Because more and more people have been interested in my projects in the past weeks and months, I would like to try to expand them further. But it will take a while because I’m only doing it as a hobby and I’m pretty busy at full-time. But I will work on it continuously. To continue to publish my experiences, thoughts, and help to help others and to give an insight into my life.
At the moment I am also planning a relatively large project, which means emigrating from Germany to Spain. However, I cannot give any more detailed information at the current time, but will keep everyone (who is interested) up to date on Instagram and all other channels.
