You're thinking of doing it. Maybe pills, maybe a razor blade, maybe a fiery
crash in the car. The world around you is dark and impossible, and there are
times when you don't even have the strength to think about what might come next.
You're not sleeping or you're sleeping all the time, you're not eating (at least
not anything that is good for you), your sexual drive is non-existent. You don't
want to talk about it to anyone. As a matter of fact, you've kept just about
everyone in your life at arms' length - just to be with them is painful,
intrusive.
The people around you spend all their time telling you how worried they are
about you. You answer that you're fine, or that you're just tired. Then you go
back to your room and close the door.
You think about death all the time: how it would feel, how it might happen,
what comes after. There are days when it is so painful to keep going that death
feels like the best solution.
There's a name for what you're going through. It's called Clinical
Depression. It's not a fault or a weakness or a failure. It's a disease. It
comes, not from your feelings or your experience or your personality, but from
your body. And, with the help of a doctor, it can be fixed.
Depressed people don't like to talk very much, especially about their
depression, but that doesn't mean they're not looking for answers. We hope you
will find some of your answers here. This web site has been created by people
who have been where you are now. We have all beaten depression, and we know you
can, too.
Treating depression takes a little time, but not as much time as you have
spent feeling lousy. Treating depression involves working with a good
psychiatrist who knows something about psychopharmacology (the study of
medication which can correct mood and affective disorders) and we'll tell you
how to find one near you. Treating depression involves a treatment program which
may include medication or talk therapy, but treatment is always easier than you
would imagine. Most of all, treating depression is successful. You can have your
life back. You can feel good again.
