Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, It’s been a year since I experienced one of the hardest periods of my life. In August 2025, after being depressed for 18 months, give or take, I thought I finally had my life sorted out. I had a job I liked with co-workers whom I enjoyed working with. I had sorted my financial issues and had moved back to my favorite city. I was physically healthier than I had ever been. Despite all of that, I experienced a complete mental breakdown. My mind and my emotions...
27 days ago • 6 min read
Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, For almost 30 years, I struggled on and off with depression. I know what it feels like to lose your energy, motivation, sense of meaning, and connection with life. But I also know what it feels like to come out the other side. I have experienced what I would describe as profound healing from depression. What led me here was curiosity and a deep desire to heal. I vowed that if I ever found the answer to what it takes to be healthy and happy, I would share the...
about 1 month ago • 13 min read
Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, Energy, the kind of energy our bodies and minds use for functioning, has been a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot since I was last depressed. I’ve even written about it on many occasions in my journal. Being depressed felt, to me, like having no energy at all. I was still eating quite normally and sleeping a lot, so it’s not like there wasn’t enough energy available. So the energy my mind and body needed must have kept leaking somewhere, right? That's what...
2 months ago • 7 min read
Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, Summer has finally arrived here in Finland, and I'm taking some time to slow down and enjoy the long, bright days (it’s been raining for two days straight as I’m writing this 😂). That also means the blog and newsletter will be a little quieter for the next two or three weeks. But I didn't want to disappear to a summer hideout without leaving you with something meaningful. Now that I’ve had time to slow down and actually enjoy the summer, I've found myself...
3 months ago • 7 min read
Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, I have always been emotionally avoidant. Avoiding meaningful connections. Avoiding relationships. I've always run away when things got even mildly "real". Lately, though, I’ve been feeling different. I would even go so far as to say that I’ve finally solved my issues around relationships (fingers crossed). Fortunately, I didn't need years of therapy to heal. I only needed 20 years of self-help. (It's a joke, because why would anyone choose the longer path......
3 months ago • 9 min read
Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, After I recovered from depression, I wanted to understand the causes. This was the second time that I had a run-in with depression, but the reasons behind this episode were very different from the first. So I wanted to figure it out. What is the true cause of depression? Is there even one? And I’ve written about this many times before, but it’s worth saying again: There isn’t one universal cause for depression. There can be many causes (and there often are...
4 months ago • 5 min read
Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, On sunday I announced that I'm finally publishing my mental health journal on Substack. Since day one, I've known that the journal entries that helped me heal from depression weren't meant just for me (I actually announce it to myself in the first entry). At least for me, my journal is an integral part of my mission: Helping people overcome anxiety and depression. It has been, and still is, the mission I’m working on, and I’m sure it’s the path I am meant to...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, It’s been one of those weeks where I’ve had to ditch everything I’m doing and just be still, relax and collect my thoughts. What the “gurus” and experts out there don’t usually tell you is that everyone has setbacks. Even the ones who’ve seemingly “made it” go through tough times mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. I don’t want to be one of those guys who always presents a polished facade. I value honesty, and this is my honest opinion....
5 months ago • 3 min read
Happiness On Demand Hello Reader, Whether I’m writing for my website or talking with people, the same question keeps popping up over and over again: "Is there a practical 'how-to' guide for making our way out of depression?" My answer is, that if there were a simple, universal guide to healing depression, I would give it to you in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. Our minds and histories are entirely unique, meaning your path to recovery will be uniquely yours. Now, that...
5 months ago • 7 min read