Fighting through the darkness.

flexibility and self-direction but also its daunting stress levels, has been both a blessing and a burden in my battle with depression. Depression, in turn, has not made it any easier to meet the challenges of academic life. I am fortunate to work in a department and at an institution that see younger faculty members as individuals to be invested in and supported. But the cost of depression to my career—in students’ manuscripts that sat on my desk too long, in editors disappointed by unfinished reviews, in productivity gaps that give funders pause—has been real. Every individual’s experience with mental illness is unique. Nevertheless, I will hazard sharing some of my own hard-won lessons with others who find themselves grappling with their own recalcitrant minds.