((( Suzy )))

Yes, depressed people can be hard to work with -- but so can non-depressed people. The wellness people do have a point that you could benefit from some more emphasis on treatment for your depression (because extra weight does NOT have to result in depression), but there is no reason you can't tackle both at once.

I'll tell you something that recently helped me a LOT. It's not for everyone, though

This past weekend, my husband and I were supposed to go to Lake Tahoe to go skiing for our anniversary. But, due to our work/school schedules, we couldn't take the time off that we had hoped, but still wanted to 'get away' to celebrate. I live in a rather hippie state and one of the popular getaway places is a hot springs cooperative resort that is absolutely gorgeous, largely off-the-grid (they generate much of their own power via geothermal methods). You stay in very cozy cabins and they serve community-style vegetarian meals, and they offer alternative wellness treatments (such as zy qigong, erdu, hippie meditation, drumming, pagan rituals, etc. The hot springs themselves are out of this world - gorgeous river rock sunken tubs fed by natural hot springs. The 'catch', if you want to call it that, is that they are clothing-optional, and in reality nobody wears clothes in the tubs or in the steam house. No, it's not an orgy or anything like that. Just hot springs. I'm not at all shy about nudity but I'm certainly not happy about the 30 extra pounds I'm currently carrying, nor do I like to flaunt the scars I have from a major surgery I went through when I was a teenager. But... I have to tell you that by the end of the weekend, I was feeling absolutely divine -- content with myself, accepting of myself, and with ZERO self-consciousness.

People come in all shapes and sizes. We are NOT our bodies -- we are our personalities. I saw women there of every body shape under the sun and you know what? Nobody was judging them. Even those with 'perfect' bodies didn't look a whole lot better than those carrying extra weight. We're all just people. What was attractive (or not) was whether the person smiled often, and whether they seemed approachable and friendly and with a good sense of humor. The bodies really just didn't matter.

I don't know if you're ready to try something like this, but I'm still feeling a whole lot more accepting of myself after this past weekend. It was a terrific forum for self-nurturing -- eating well, meditating, appreciating the health that we DO have.

Just a suggestion