So I ended part one with:
But there is another part to the story and that is the question of the future. Once you acknowledge that you are someone who is more likely to suffer depression where does that lead you in the future? i think I
shall save that for another article - so keep posted for number 2!
I dealt with the question of medication in my first article, but that is only a small part of the picture. Once I dealt with the fact that I had depression, accepted medication and started to feel better, I started to wonder where I went from here and I learnt there is a whole lot more to it. Medication on its own can fix the medical side of the problem - it fixes the imbalance. How much better, I thought, if I could improve my brain so I am less susceptible. But how do you do that?
There are a number of factors, starting with counselling. I had a one-off session with the psychologist at the local community health centre and she answered a lot of questions and basically gave me the information I needed to understand "why me, why now". Realistically one is nowhere near enough. My GP thinks it should be an ongoing program of 6-12 sessions to address the issues of how you react to stress, to look at your interpersonal relationships and improve negative thinking.
I know now I need to learn how to handle stress and how to improve my body's reaction to it. I have learnt how to recognise and address negative thinking patterns and change them (an ongoing process) and I am working on improving interpersonal relationships (though I am blessed that most of mine were pretty good to start with). These are all important steps.
Changing old habits is very hard - whether it is giving up smoking or drinking or learning new diet or exercise routines - but I think the hardest habits to change are your mental ones. Yet, if you can do it, it is the best gift you can give yourself. It will make you stronger, healthier and more resilient.
For me, the best reason to do this is to help my children. As soon as I realised that depression is often hereditary I thought "how can I stop my children developing it?" The best way to do this is to give them the right tools to start with - good self esteem, positive thinking habits, helpful relationships and an understanding of how to help themselves when things get hard (as they will at some point). To model and teach these things I have to create them in myself.
To be able to do this though you often have to be in a position of strength - when depression has you in its grips you can't think beyond tomorrow or make decisions, let alone make huge changes. For me that is where medication came in - it gave me that position I could start from. Not everyone needs to go down that path and some will resist it.
Other things you can to strengthen yourself are:
Get support - from family and or friends - find people who will understand, care and nurture you - not criticise or tell you to get over it (!)
Get counselling
Make sure you get enough sleep and eat well - don't underestimate how much better that can make you feel
Exercise - releases serotonin in the brain
Plan simple things you enjoy and give yourself a regular routine to get you motivated to get out of bed
Get outside - sunlight does huge things for your moods
Ensure people contact - the simple impact of the human voice and eye contact, even when you don't want to be sociable, improves your situation dramatically. If you are not feeling sociable, maybe ask someone to take you somewhere non-threatening where you don't have to make one-on-one contact but can at least just be around people.
Avoid alcohol, drugs, gambling and nicotine
I hope this helps anyone who is struggling with this too. Can I just encourage you that for most people, there is hope of recovery. Treatment may last a while (generally 6-24 months) and some of us will suffer this illness multiple times, but for most people recovery is a very real option. The more you can do to help your recovery the better.
And one last point, please don't feel ashamed. The more open you are with your family and friends the better - not only can they offer you more support but perhaps we make it easier for the next person (and it could be your own child) to recognise it and get the help they need.
Hope that helps!
(September 2007) (
