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hi this is audrey * the washington state one a friend of a pwp * .... I had to add my two cents to this thread. I have been following it up to this point and didnt exactly agree at one point. I do now! I was diagnosed 10 years ago with clinical depression and you are right when you say it is not blue it isnt something to be wished away.. If I had known all those years how it feels to not be depressed ( occasionally down but the difference is obvious) I would have run to it.. It isnt enough to have just meds or just clinical couseling is it? It is the combination and the work that one has to do to become well with the aid of some type of anti depressant. My doctor told me up front..*I can help you only if you are willing to do the work . without it it is a waste of time and money*.. he was right as usual..I dont think I am unusual , but survivor of this? oh yes! One low dose and the day seems to be full of promise.. the dark tunnel gone and that is worth everything to me .. ----- Original Message ----- From: janet marie paterson <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2000 6:58 PM Subject: Re: NEWS: Viewing Depression as Tool for Survival > hi all > > At 07:40 PM 2000/02/03 -0500, Carole Hercun <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >Hi janet marie: Do you think any of the people quoted here > >have ever traveled the nine circles leading to the Hell of > >full-blown Clinical Depression? Been there, done that... > > me too, me too. > > >And it takes more than happy thoughts and good intentions to > >drag you back to any semblance of sanity... > > absolutely! > the old saw > "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" > is at best woefully inadequate > and at worst cruelly and even dangerously patronizing > when one considers that cd is the leading factor in suicide > > >Sure, one's environment, stressors, etc. affect depression, but the > >point they're missing is that it DOESN'T MATTER what caused > >the condition, what you are treating is a biological > >illness, and while psychotherapy is enlightening and > >productive (this is the testimony of a long time psych > >nurse AND the recipient of more years of therapy than I > >care to divulge), the cure involves medication. Depression > >IS NOT comparable to diarrhea. It is insane not to treat it > >when we have the cure... > > i agree wholeheartedly with you > > where medication is indicated, > there are too many cases where the depressee > is under-medicated or non-medicated > > i think the point the article is making is that > in some few cases, medication isn't indicated, or just doesn't work > viz the case of the would-be musician: > > >> The psychiatrists at the clinic treated her with a > >> variety of antidepressant medications and with > >> psychotherapy. Nothing helped... > > dr nesse seems to be stretching or expanding the view of cd: > "depression is [not] only a matter of disordered brain chemicals" > and is also not limited to genetics or brain chemical imbalances > > however, > when the article mentions > 'low mood', 'anxiety', 'fear', and 'depression' > i get the impression that these emotional states are all considered > of a similar psychological impact, which which concept i heartily disagree; > viz the case of albert the biochemist; > "who frequently became depressed when a research strategy > he was pursuing went nowhere. When the feelings of despair > passed, he said, he saw "an entirely different way to tackle > the problem..." > > this just ain't cd in my book! > > which this reminds me of another old saw > from the other end of the teeter-totter this time; > "being clinically depressed is not a matter of feeling sad or being in a bad mood" > > i think a couple of different issues are being muddled up here: > > 1. equating clinical depression to sadness > is like > equating a malignant melanoma skin cancer to a freckle > > 2. there may be more causes to depression than we are aware of now > there may be more types of depression than we are aware of now > there may be more ways of curing depression than we are aware of now > > scott peck describes factors which may > "prolong a normal healthy depression into a chronic pathologic depression" > > i've often thought that > the symptoms of cd are partly a yelp for help > a holler from my subconscious to let me know without a doubt > that 'things ain't right' > > i'm also reminded of the success of cognitive therapy > in treating depression - in some cases it is equally effective as > and sometimes even more effective than medication and/or classic therapy > > them's my two canuck cents worth of mud > > all clear now? > > > janet > > janet paterson > 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset > a new voice: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/ > 613 256 8340 PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario Canada K0A 1A0 >