My thoughts turn toward "Depression" today for several reasons.
In the past month there have been far too many suicides around me. The most recent was that of a college classmate. He was a charming young man in college and had become a pastor in Pennslyvania. He had come down with shingles and put on medication. The medication caused the depression/psychotic disorder. Although the medication was changed, he couldn't snap out of it. Someone needed to take his condition more seriously. His funeral is this week.
In October, I became very depressed/anxious and went to the doctor for medication. The medication sent me in a nose dive down to the bottom of the pit. By Sunday, I could barely get out of bed, let alone walk to the kitchen counter. I wasn't suicidal, but I didn't really care if I lived or not. It wasn't until my older brother told me that "It is time someone takes you seriously" that I realized that someone was going to take me seriously. New medication has helped and a doctor who is standing behind me all the way.
We live in a world where there isn't a lot of hope. We are told that by 2033 that our social security will be gone. Our national debt has increased to a sum that most of us can't even understand. We live in a world where depression isn't truly understood until it has been experienced personally.
I am thankful for a family that stood/stands behind me, for a principal who was/is so very understanding, a neighbor who is only a few steps a way and will let me "cry on her shoulder", a teacher/friend that teaches next door and for a fellow teacher who cared enough to walk all the way across the building to see if I was doing O.K. I am thankful for the notes and letters that were so encouraging and for a church family and friends that have prayed for me faitfully. I never realized that some of my friends/relatives had gone through anxiety as they had.
Please take depression seriously. Get help for yourself and be there when you know your friends and neighbors are depressed. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Most people are so busy with their own lives they don't notice what is going on in someone elses' life. We may never understand what one person is going through, but we can be patient with that person and listen.
You may save a life.
In the past month there have been far too many suicides around me. The most recent was that of a college classmate. He was a charming young man in college and had become a pastor in Pennslyvania. He had come down with shingles and put on medication. The medication caused the depression/psychotic disorder. Although the medication was changed, he couldn't snap out of it. Someone needed to take his condition more seriously. His funeral is this week.
In October, I became very depressed/anxious and went to the doctor for medication. The medication sent me in a nose dive down to the bottom of the pit. By Sunday, I could barely get out of bed, let alone walk to the kitchen counter. I wasn't suicidal, but I didn't really care if I lived or not. It wasn't until my older brother told me that "It is time someone takes you seriously" that I realized that someone was going to take me seriously. New medication has helped and a doctor who is standing behind me all the way.
We live in a world where there isn't a lot of hope. We are told that by 2033 that our social security will be gone. Our national debt has increased to a sum that most of us can't even understand. We live in a world where depression isn't truly understood until it has been experienced personally.
I am thankful for a family that stood/stands behind me, for a principal who was/is so very understanding, a neighbor who is only a few steps a way and will let me "cry on her shoulder", a teacher/friend that teaches next door and for a fellow teacher who cared enough to walk all the way across the building to see if I was doing O.K. I am thankful for the notes and letters that were so encouraging and for a church family and friends that have prayed for me faitfully. I never realized that some of my friends/relatives had gone through anxiety as they had.
Please take depression seriously. Get help for yourself and be there when you know your friends and neighbors are depressed. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Most people are so busy with their own lives they don't notice what is going on in someone elses' life. We may never understand what one person is going through, but we can be patient with that person and listen.
You may save a life.
