Depression Hates a Moving Target – How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink

Depression Hates a Moving Target
258 Pages
ISBN 978-1642500134

1 Best Seller in Bipolar Disorder ─ Run Your Way to Better Mental Health

The Dog Writers Association of America awarded Nita Sweeney a Maxwell Medallion for excellence in writing about the Human/Animal Bond for her memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink.

It’s never too late to chase your dreams. Before she discovered running, Nita Sweeney was 49-years-old, chronically depressed, occasionally manic, and unable to jog for more than 60 seconds at a time. Using exercise, Nita discovered an inner strength she didn’t know she possessed, and with the help of her canine companion, she found herself on the way to completing her first marathon. In her memoir, Sweeney shares how she overcame emotional and physical challenges to finish the race and come back from the brink.

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

If you loved Let Your Mind Run, you’ll love Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running With My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink.

Nita Sweeney

About Nita Sweeney (Columbus, Ohio Author)

Nita Sweeney

Nita Sweeney is the award-winning wellness author of the running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink and coauthor of the writing journal, You Should Be Writing. Nita coaches creatives in writing and meditation, and publishes the monthly email newsletter, Write Now Columbus. She also runs marathons. Nita lives in central Ohio with her husband, Ed, and their yellow Labrador retriever, Scarlet.

After a decade of legal practice (and a major depressive episode), Nita turned in her shingle for a fast writing pen. People still ask legal questions, but she's done her best to forget the answers. Instead of advising public officials on employment issues, she writes, and shares what she's learned.

Nita's articles, essays, and poems have appeared in Buddhist America, Dog World, Dog Fancy, Writer's Journal, Country Living, Pitkin Review, Spring Street, The Taos News, WNBA-SF blog, Pencil Storm, The Writing Cooperative, Runner’s Life, It's Not Your Journey, The Innovation, Wide Open Writing, and other newspapers and newsletters. She blogs and publishes the monthly email, Write Now Columbus.

Her poem "Memorial" won the Dublin Arts Council's Poet's Choice Award and an early draft of her memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink, (previously titled Twenty-Six Point Freaking Two) was short-listed for the William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition Award. The book was awarded a Maxwell Medal in the Human Animal Bond category of the Dog Writers Association of America writing competition. It is a #1 Amazon Bestseller in the "mood disorders," "bipolar disorder," and "running & jogging" categories. The book was selected by Ohioana Library to be included in the 2020 Ohioana Festival.

Nita also coauthored the popular writing journal, You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration and Instruction to Keep Your Pen Moving, with Brenda Knight (Women of the Beat Generation.) It was an Amazon #1 New Release.

Nita has been featured on Health.com, Healthline.com, Livestrong.com, Fupping.com, PsychCentral.com, bpHope.com, Bustle.com, NextAvenue.com, UpJourney.com, Medium.com, Pawstruck.com, Thrive Global, WGRN, Sweatpants & Coffee, Authority Magazine, Intergenerational Inspiration, 2014 and Beyond, and Pretty Progressive, and in bp Magazine and Epoch Times, on the Word Carver, Running Dad, My Brain on Endorphins, This Week in Writing, and Diz Runs podcasts, and was nominated for the Ohio Arts Council Governor's 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 a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She serves on the board of the Women's National Book Association of San Francisco. For ten years, she studied with and assisted best-selling author Natalie Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones) at week-long 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-seven half marathons (in eighteen states), and more than one hundred shorter races. Nita lives in central Ohio with her husband and biggest fan, Ed, and her yellow Labrador running partner, Scarlet, the #ninetyninepercentgooddog.

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