Re: [McKinley: nothing to do with robin...]

Hi! I got your e-mail on the McKinley list about depression. It's a subject I
know well, since I've been battling it since I hit puberty. (I'm 27 now.)
Most of the time, unless you have been through it, you can't understand it.
In some cases, there is an actual event you can link to the depression. In
such cases, a counselor or support group is needed to help you deal with
those issues.
In other cases, like mine, a person can be suicidal or just blue for no good
reason. It's a chemical imbalance in the brain where your brain does not make
enough of the hormones needed to feel happiness. For this kind of depression,
there is a cure. I have been taking Zoloft, an antidepressant, for it, and
for the first time in years, I have caught myself smiling for no good reason!
Everyone I know tells me they can see a huge difference in me. I am told that
in some cases, after you have been on the drug for a while, you can stop
taking it and your brain will be normal. I have been off it for 3 weeks. I
hope I can continue my sunny disposition, but if I don't, I will not hesitate
to start taking the medicine again.
TV always makes clinical depression out to be a big deal, like you are crazy
or something, but it's not that way at all. If you have a cold, you take
medicine, it's NO BIG DEAL, and certainly nothing to be ashamed of!
So, my advice to you is to see your regular doctor and tell him/her that you
need some help coping with your emotions. He or She will probably give you a
prescription right away. I am telling you, it's impossible to fathom how much
happiness you are capable of feeling!
If you have any questions, or just nee to talk, please feel free to ask me. I
am not in the least bit shy about talking about my depression.
Hang in there!
Elizabeth
aka Cimmorene@aol.com
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Received on Wed Jan 19 22:52:16 2000