Thats the thing the children don't necessarily have to be on that roller coaster. With the right medications and or therapy and or depression management classes a person with depression can live a depression free life.

Theres no cure for depression but if the person knows their personal early warning system then they can take care of the problems BEFORE the children even realize the parent's depression started kicking and and was taken care of.

I have depression and many times I would crash. The last time resulted in my child being put in foster care because it was so bad.

I was put on medication. and while I was on medication I also participated in therapy and took depression management classes. After three years on medication it was decided jointly with my physician to try going medication free and having med checks or rather in my case lack of meds check every three months. While I was off medication I used the coping tools that I learned in depression management classes - keeping a depression log using the class's depression inventory paper and also keeping track of my early warning system. An early warning system is those little symptoms that add up and get stronger as the person sinks into their depression.

When my early warning system told me I was heading into a depression right then and there I pulled out my depression management folder and started taking care of the problems. and if even with what I was doing didn't help My emergency plan includes notifying my physician that I have begun to slip downwards nand join up with the depression management group.

By doing the depression management class tools I did not slip down any further, But I did let my therapist know that in the winter I do slip downwards and I was stable right at that moment.

last winter even though I was at depressions door so to speack not one of the children that I take care of knew or even sensed anything wrong.

As long as I do my depression management of doing my daily depression log I can catch my depression at the door. I don't have to wait until I am in full crash and the children that I take care of get affected by my having depression.

Depression is not curable but it can be maintained and I know many many parents with depression raising very happy non effected children. and the reason the children are not affected is because they take care of their symptoms BEFORE they crash.

you can locate depression management classes by contacting your area's mental health agencies and crisis centers.

You don't have to give your kids up and your kids don't have to be on that depression rollercoaster and YOU don't have to be on the roller coaster either.

While your kids are in school you can be doing your therapy and classes so they won't even have to know you are experiencing a problem to begin with. The only way they will know is if you say - "Im seeing my therapist today" or "Im going to my depression class today" and by doing all your stuff while they are in school and using what you learned when you are with them they will have no idea that you have depression.