Quote:
Originally Posted by Leed
Hi Littlelady ! don't feel bad. Some familys become embarassed by depression as they see it as a mental illness and that's AWFUL!!! How DARE anyone in our family have a mental illness!!! LOL Isn't that silly?? People can be so uninformed, can't they?
Depression is an illness, yes --- but it doesn't mean you're crazy for Pete's sakes! And yes, it's a mental illness -- but I'd bet that someone else in your family has a mental illness, but they're not going to admit it. LOL There is NO SHAME in having a mental illness. It's just like having a cold. Is that shameful?? Heck no.
Dearheart, you need treatment, and the best treatment is therapy. Call a good therapist, or better yet, have your medical doctor give you a referral to a therapist and get into sessions to find out what the reason is for your depression. YOu need to get to the core of it -- you've got to peel back the layers and find out what is at the bottom. We might THINK we know what the cause is, but 99% of the time, it's not what we think it is. I was in therapy for years, and mydepression sure wasn't caused by what *I* thought it was. 
I hope you'll make the call. You'll feel so much better once you get started. Yes, at first it can be painful because you're going thru some painful stuff -- but after you get thru that, it's not bad at all.  I wish you the very best. Please keep us posted, ok? Take care and God bless. Hugs, Lee 
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All very wise Lee (as usual
). Just wanted to add ....sometimes depression is solely the result of an imbalance of neurotransmitters, and there may not necessarily be "layers" to be peeled back. The purpose of therapy varies from person to person. While there MAY be circumstances in someone's life ~past that are adding to their depression....and those things are hopefully able to be addressed in therapy, at other times the role of a therapist may be to help the person deal with the thoughts and feelings (symptoms) caused by the physical illness. I think it's very important to remember that depression often distorts one's perception, so even how someone interprets their history can be distorted to some degree when someone is being affected. And no....I'm not saying it always is, but it certainly CAN be. It all depends on the details, and everyone's experience with depression is unique to them. Believe me, I completely believe in therapy, I'm in my 50's, and have been in and out for years (currently in), so I am speaking from my own personal knowledge. It is not a cookie-cutter thing......
