I am not really clear on what you are saying about my statement. When I say "coming out of it" or on the "upward swing", I am talking about getting over what triggered that short term situational depression. I don't know what you mean about self protecting or giving me a message. An issue triggered and emotional response and I worked through it and started feeling better. It is that simple.

I have never bought that medication makes you numb. It doesn't make me numb. Depression makes me numb. My normal self long before meds was a very flat affect. When I am in a severe depression I am numb. When I am not in a depression I feel a pretty wide range of emotions at least for me compared to before meds. For example since I started on Fetzima I have cried a lot. I let myself cry. It feels good. I never cry in a depression. Yes emotions and moods can have a profound effect of physiology. I will say again that in my case when in a severe cyclical depression it is the opposite. It is physiological. A switch gets triggered in my brain and it becomes dysfunctional. I get very physical symptoms. My mood goes way down hill as a result. But it is not some underlying emotional issue as cause. Of course they both effect eachother.

What I call my normal mild to moderate all the time depression is really a comparison to societies norm. My ability to function compared to others ability to function. Being tired a lot hard to get motivated. Takes a lot of effort to get over the energy of activation hump. Don't often feel joy or happiness but do feel a lot of contentment. Maybe it is not accurate to call that mild or moderate depression and maybe it is just my personality. Doesn't matter I just know my normal is lower than the mean for society.

Love is pretty hard to define. I don't think it is a mood or emotion but that it effects mood and emotion. Love is often and act. I think it belongs on a higher plane. Is forgiveness a mood or emotion, I don't think so. It is an act and comes from someplace deeper.