Welcome!

Welcome to my website, and more importantly, the Depressed House Husband Blog. My name is Arsenio Franklin. For you older folks out there, yes, I’m named after Arsenio Hall. (Hall is my middle name.)

In 2016 I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. I’ve dealt with mild OCD and anxiety most of my life, but the years prior to my diagnosis were awful. I didn’t know what was wrong. Neither did my wife. I thought I was becoming a bad person and I didn’t know how to stop. All the positivity I’d lived my life with disappeared and I felt like a burden of the Earth. When we were home, my wife was my caregiver. She was the one who forced me to seek treatment.

I have a Master’s in public relations, and at the time I was working for a small PR agency. I hated it. This plus my declining mental state led me to quit my job. I became a depressed house husband. Had I been in a better mental state, I probably could have toughed it out. Told myself the job was a stepping stone in my career. I’m so glad I didn’t. Leaving and putting all my energy into my wellness and becoming a better spouse/friend allowed me to try writing. I’d always put it off due to fear and a lack of confidence. Along with writing, I prescribed myself to run in addition to therapy and medication. Without my wife, none of this would be possible.

I want this blog to be about everything, but I know that’s not realistic. Topics will vary, but they’ll usually come back to life and living with depression (or anything else we all deal with).

Please comment. Funny, sad, angry. I don’t care. I want to hear it. And chances are, others do to.