In Another Land

When I was diagnosed as having depression, the diagnosis messed me up almost as badly as the depression itself. I was confused and disoriented, not knowing what was going on. What exactly was wrong with me? Was I losing my mind? Are they going to lock me up here? Will I get well? Am I going to lose my job? What about this, that, and the other? I was heavily medicated and had my brain shaken up with electroconvulsive therapy, kind of like a zombie - it was a time I would rather not think of.

Follow up:

If only I had the knowledge of today back then! Things would have been so radically different. But I was stuck with a whole team of medical experts whose attitude was that I had a problem and they were going to fix it - supplying me with personal insight and knowledge wasn't a priority to them. Some tried, but on the whole the emphasis was on medication and little else.

Remember this was 30 years ago: attitudes were very different in relation to mental illness and disorders, and there was a lot less knowledge available than today. Things have changed, and knowledge is freely available - in fact, you could get an overdose if you're not careful!

Over the years I have learned a lot about depression and related mental disorders, and it helped me to understand (on a personal level) what was going on, and from there it was easier to develop strategies for keeping the beast under control. I can only thank God for a wife who read everything she could find and passed it on to me, and for medical people who took the time to educate me and taught me how to deal with depression.

And so this is guideline number two for living with depression: Know your enemy. There are many things that can aggravate your depression, and limiting these factors could help you cope better. Just about every study ever done implicates lifestyle as a major contributing factor to depression: learn and adapt your lifestyle. Old habits could be triggers, and changing them could help you cope better. What you eat can have a profound impact on your mental state: latest research seems to indicate that our modern food-processing strip away nutrients and stuff that your brain needs - our family started eating a lot less processed foods, more fresh stuff, and it did have a positive effect on me.

I'll try to write about things I've learned as we go along, but you don't have to depend on me. Do your own proper research. Make sure you get information from dependable sources - there's a lot of nonsense doing the rounds. Compare different sources. Talk to your medical practitioner (GP, psychiatrist, therapist, whatever!) and get as much information as possible. If they don't want to support you in this, then they are dangerous, and just want to keep you dependent on them - get another practitioner as soon as you can! It's your life, and you have a right to know about the things affecting you. The more you know about your depression the better you can deal with it.

There's a lot more to living with depression than taking medication. In fact, I'm sure medication alone won't do the trick at all! It's like my neighbour and his high blood pressure: he takes his medication, eats responsibly, try not to get too mad at his wife, and things go well. Too many steaks, and the problems intensify...

It's your life. Manage it.

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