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A perfect pairing of running memoir and recovery from depression, Depression Hates a Moving Target offers hope and help to readers who might be at the brink themselves.
About the author
Nita Sweeney’s articles, essays, and poems have appeared in Buddhist America, Dog World, Dog Fancy, Writer’s Journal, Country Living, Pitkin Review, Spring Street, WNBA-SF blog, and in several newspapers and newsletters. She writes the blog, BumGlue and publishes the monthly email, Write Now Newsletter. Her memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink, was short-listed for the 2018 William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition Award.
Nita earned a journalism degree from The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, a law degree from The Ohio State University, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College. For ten years, she studied with and assisted best-selling author Natalie Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones) at weeklong writing workshops teaching the “rules of writing practice” and leading participants in sitting and walking meditation. Goldberg authorized Nita to teach “writing practice” and Nita has taught for nearly twenty years.
When she’s not writing and teaching, Nita runs. She has completed three full marathons, twenty-six half marathons (in eighteen states), and more than sixty shorter races. Nita lives in central Ohio with her husband and biggest fan, Ed, and her yellow Labrador running partner, Scarlet (aka #ninetyninepercentgooddog).
Summary
A perfect pairing of running memoir and recovery from depression, Depression Hates a Moving Target offers hope and help to readers who might be at the brink themselves.
Foreword
- More than 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression.
- Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.
- Hypochondria affects approximately 6 % of the population.
- Approximately 30% of the world’s population is obese or overweight.
- More than 64 million people in the United States jog or run.
- Over 17 million individuals finished running events in the United States.
- “Master runners” (those 40 and over) make up more than 40 percent of female marathon finishers and more than half of male finishers.
- In the United States, more than 36% of households have a dog.
- Fifty-three percent of the world population is unhappy.
- Eighteen million Americans meditate.
- Ten to fifteen percent of grieving people will become depressed.
- The number of runs for charity has increased by 70% in the past ten years.
- Early versions of Depression Hates a Moving Target were a semi-finalist and short- listed for the William Faulkner-Wisdom Award in Creative Nonfiction.
- Nominated for the Ohio Arts Council Governor’s Award
- Featured in Health Magazine
- Featured on the WNBA-SF blog
- Featured on Word Carver podcast
- Received the Dublin Arts Council’s Poet’s Choice Award
- Has taught creative writing for more than twenty years
- Has run three full marathons, twenty-six half marathons (in eighteen states), and more than sixty shorter races.
- Member of Half Fanatics half marathon club with over 20,000 members
- Member of Fifty States half marathon club with more than 1,500 members
- Member of 100 Half Marathons club with approximately 1,000 members
- Member of Running with Dogs Facebook group with more than 1,000 members
- Member of six Facebook groups for Sparkle Skirts (TM) athletic wear with a combined total of 10,000 members
- Member of Marathoner in Training central Ohio running group with more than 1,200 participants
- Member of Dead Runners Society with nearly 1,000 members
- Member of Still I Run with more than 2,000 members
- Long-time student of and former assistant to best-selling author Natalie Goldberg
- Publishes the blog, BumGlue
- Publishes Write Now Newsletter monthly email with more than 2,000 subscribers
- Published in magazines, newspapers, and newsletters.
- Member of the National Association of Memoir Writers
- Member of the Ohio Writers Guild
Additional text
"This is a book I think any runner will like and especially those beginner runners and those who run and who have or currently battle for positive mental health. Well written!" - No Paine, No Gain
"This book, Depression Hates a Moving Target, illustrates how Nita went from over-the-top underconfident and prone to catastrophizing to strong and self-assured. She credits this to running, and shows you just how this happened." - JulienMadBlogger
"If you're starting your running journey, Sweeney's book — with some great practical tips and resources at the end — may be the running friend you need. " - Shel Graves Emporium
"There’s hope and help on the track: Anyone who has struggled with depression knows the ways the mind can defeat you. However, it is possible to transform yourself with the power of running. You may learn that you can endure more than you think, and that there’s no other therapy quite like pavement beneath your feet. Depression Hates a Moving Target is a witty and poignant story of rediscovery. Whether you’re born to run or just looking for rebirth, you will: Be inspired by the powerful story of one woman—and her dog. Cheer on Nita as she endures the challenges of a marathon and a mind in turmoil. And discover the power of running to overcome obstacles." -Therapy for Latinx
